From Dusk to Dawn
by harvesthands
Summary: Bella's quirky little half-sister is tired of everyone leaving her out of the story. So, she decides to tell her story,complete with her own unusual thoughts and tendency to become easily distracted, starting from watching her sister fall obsessively in love with vampire to being imprinted on by the least expected guy. Rated T now - because I'm not badass as I thought I was.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys! So, I wrote this story on a different account. I forgot the password to that account so I'm re-writing it here. (: I'll be correcting a lot of it here as well. I kind rushed through it the first time. I was in nursing school at the time and now I've graduated and am about to take my test :D and here I am being distracted by fanfiction just as I was in nursing school! :D**

 **I'd also like to thank spellcheck for fixing my stupid mistakes. :D**

* * *

I'm sure you've all heard of my sister, Isabella Swan, right?

Yeah, I thought so.

But me, you might not have heard of. Bella Swan is my older sister. Well, half-sister technically. Charlie Swan is my father. And the stories don't mention it but I'm the reason her mother left our father. But then again, the stories don't usually mention me at all.

My name is Gabriella Rose Swan but most just call me "Gabz". Yeah, Gabriella's too long and too pretty for me. Rose doesn't quite fit either. Although Jacob argues that the whole "thorns" on the rose does fit me. I choose to stick with Gabz anyways. Simple and short, like me. I seem to have been unlucky in the height department, and the general genes department. Contrary to what my father describes me as, "best of both worlds", I think I got the worst traits from my white and Native American backgrounds.

Bella and I's resemblance is said to be obvious from the first glance. I'll admit we have the same eyes, same eyebrows, forehead, and oddly enough, ears. But if you look closer, my hair is a few shades darker. My nose is flatter and rounder. My lips are fuller, but when I smile that "killer smile" of mine, we have the same rabbit teeth. My cheeks are rounder and fuller, and my cheekbones are wider as well.

My skin's not as pale, but I think it's because Bella doesn't get out much and I do. Yet my skin still isn't that beautiful russet color like my mother's.

Onto the height department, I'm not as tall or slim as Bella either. Standing at 5 feet and 1 ½ inches, I'm probably the shortest person in the La Push/Fork area.

I try to stay positive though, there's got to be at least one person who is shorter around here right? I'll let you know when I find him or her. Or them, there could be many of they, hiding in between the giant citizens of La Push and Forks, just like me, thinking they're all alone in this big world. Maybe someday I'll save them and you'll hear all about my story just like Bella's.

For now, I'll just tell you about my life so far and how I've been here even before Bella's story began in Forks.

However, it's not easy for us small folk to slim down you know. But fortunately, I've got an athletic build with lean muscular arms, hips too wide for my height, and thick legs.

Eh, you can't have everything. I'm proud to say though I'm pretty outgoing, the loud obnoxious little girl that annoys everyone in Forks AND La Push reservation but they still love anyways. Besides that, I've got my friends, a loving father, a sweet big sister, and the love of my life. What more could a girl ask for?

My story begins here in La Push where I was born to Ojinjintka (Try saying that ten times fast.) Ateara, the unmarried younger sister of Quil's father. My mother died giving birth to me so my father decided to take me in. Although Bella's mom had accepted the affair since it was over before I was born, she wasn't able to stand seeing me which was an everyday reminder of what happened. She doesn't like to blame me but everyone knows the truth. When she left and took Bella, leaving my father heartbroken, he and I stayed in Forks but visited the Tribe whenever possible. They took me in and all treated me like their own daughter. Most felt bad for me, a child without a mother figure around, but some even did it out of love for me and my deceased mother. Either way, I felt the tender loving care a child needs and then some.

Jacob has always been my best friend, seeing as our fathers were good friends. We're the same age and grew up together since the diaper days. There were others too but Jacob was always the sweetest to me, he didn't make fun of me when I played girly games by myself. When no one was watching, he sometimes joined in while I played house or had tea parties, pretending to be a princess. Luckily, he was a sneaky little guy and never got caught doing so. As we got older, I tried to do things he was into as well, which was pretty much just sports and motorcycles. I wasn't good but hey I tried.

When we started school, I had begged my father to let me go in La Push with Jacob and he let me. When I began high school, he drew the line. Gas prices were going up and he couldn't drop me off every day all the way in La Push. I wasn't a little girl anymore so I couldn't throw a tantrum so I calmly accepted it. I cried to my pillow many nights though.

Eventually I did make friends at Forks though by joining the dance team. I can't say I'm a good dancer, I struggled in ballet and jazz, and I didn't have the right body for it but I was definitely the most skilled when it came to the tribal dances we did sometimes. I enjoyed Latin ballroom and hip hop as well. Hip hop, actually, I was also good at which is how I met my two best friends, NIkki and Cameron. I was the lightest skinned of our group, Nikki being half African American and Cameron being full. Both were even more outgoing than myself, which of course meant trouble because I've never been the shy type. We were pretty wild even in Freshman year. We always knew where the parties were at in Forks, not that there were many. We even went to Port Angeles sometimes, which was even more trouble.

Boys became a problem for my father during this time. Forks wasn't a big town so it always got around who the Chief of Police's daughter was into at the time. And this is where my story begins.

* * *

"Gabriella Rose, get home now!" my dad yelled into the phone. I cringed a little, this couldn't be good. The rest of the dancers in the room were quiet. Nikki and Cameron looked at me knowingly and nodded, signaling that I should go. I got my things together and put a jacket on. I didn't bother to change since I wasn't sweaty yet, we had just began stretching before my dad had called. I sighed and waved a small goodbye before walking to my pick-up. I drove like a wild man to the house, not wanting my dad to get any angrier.

When I walked through the door, he was waiting at the kitchen table, rubbing his temples. He seemed to have calmed himself down a bit. Too nervous to speak, I cleared my throat.

"Sit down." He said without looking up. That could not be good. He'd found out about Chris, my current fling. Fling because he's not my boyfriend but we've been doing stuff together. Not the dirty stuff you might be thinking, just a date and hanging out at school. He was currently in his senior year at Forks High School.

" Gabe." Only old people called me that, "Who is this boy I'm hearing about?". His voice was calm. Tooooo calm.

"Chris? He's just a friend dad." I tried to play it cool, not knowing what he might have heard.

"That's not what I've heard." Damn this small town and its gossip. "I hear he's not a good influence either. Better tell him to watch himself, he might get caught."

"Seriously dad? That's embarrassing. Every guy I talk to gets caught for whatever illegal things they happen to be doing." Okay, a little exaggerated. Every guy who showed interest in me or I paid attention to pretty much.

"Maybe you should stay away from guys who do illegal things." He shrugged.

"Dad, jaywalking is not a bad influence."

"It's still a crime punishable by law, Gabe. And this Chris guy, I've heard does much worse things honey." He said seriously. I'd heard similar rumors but I hadn't seen Chris dealing drugs. But then again, I didn't go to Port Angeles often and he was there every weekend as a DJ.

"Those are just rumors dad. Besides, we've only gone out once. I came home on time. We just saw a movie. If I sense anything odd, I'll end it." Especially if you arrest him because of it, I thought. I didn't dare say it aloud. He was just being my dad and I can't stand to see him get hurt.

My dad seemed satisfied with my answers and simply nodded. I could tell he was thinking up ways to catch Chris in the act but I left it alone. I kissed him on the forehead and got to making dinner. What would my dad do without me, I thought? He didn't know how to cook or clean so it was always me who did everything. He washed clothes though. I had to teach him how to use the washing machine and it took him a few times, but currently he was able to get it down and it always smelled really good.

Who'd of guessed.

After dinner, I did my usual routine of showering and homework then finally got to sleep. My dad washed the dishes, another one of his newly discovered abilities. I felt myself smiling at the thought as I fell asleep.

* * *

The alarm went off at 5:00am. As long as I slept early, I was an early bird. I got up to wake up dad then get outside to feed my dog. Koda is an over-sized bi-color German shepherd dog. At two years old, he was done growing and well over the average height for his breed. His big paws, black fur, and round face made him look like a small bear. My dad got him for as a present for my birthday and being the animal-lover, I am, I couldn't have gotten a better gift. My dad said I seemed to have a way with dogs but I always said it was because they knew I was a sucker for dogs.

When I had his food ready, he wasn't on the porch waiting for me like he usually did so of course I had a mini heart attack before spotting him at the edge of the property, barking at a very large black wolf.

"Koda!" I screamed. He looked at me then started bounding towards me. Luckily the wolf didn't seem hungry and didn't chase after my baby boy who pounced on me, licking my face happily before moving onto his food.

After taking Koda for a walk, I got ready for school, leaving the house a little late. I have a reputation for tardiness at school and it didn't look like it'd be changing very soon, much to my dad's disappointment.

* * *

It was a rather boring day at school, I stayed with my two best friends during classes as usual. Despite their party-hard attitudes, both girls excelled in school. Nikki wanted to get away from Forks and go to college and have the life her parents couldn't give her because of financial problems. While Cameron was set on getting a dance scholarship in some big school. As for me, I didn't really know what I wanted to do after high school. Maybe a college somewhere in Washington, I couldn't imagine going too far away. My dad needed me.

During lunch we sat with Chris and his friends, since Nikki's boy toy was part of his group and Cameron had her eye on another. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her doing her magic and predicted she'd have him before the weekend, which would be perfect because we had plans to get in a club at Port Angeles.

You know that feeling you get when you know you're about to have a fever. You just feel kind of bleeeeh That how I felt by the time I got out of school so I decided to go home. What a good girl. When I got there, I noticed I had a text from Jacob.

'Hey munchkin. Where have you been? =P'

What a jerk. He knew I hated when people referred to my vertical disabilities. Still I felt a smile forcing its way onto my face. Damn that smile to hell.

'I'm sorry we can't all be giants. BTW I heard NatGeo has been searching for ya, Sasquatch.'

My smile grew wider and more…. Err, diabolical? It was the only adjective that seemed to fit the emotion plastered on my face.

'Ha. Ha.' I exploded in laughter at his response, imagining the look on his face, obviously not impressed by my joke. I breathed in deeply before reading the rest of the text.

'Really Gabz? So, where are you? Haven't seen you in a while.'. It was true, I hadn't been back to the reservation in a month, I'd been so caught up in my shenanigans.

'I'm at home. Don't feel well. Got a fever." I texted back, putting all my emotion in the text, using a sad face.

'I'll come down and bring you a Tylenol. See ya.'. With that I ungracefully collapsed on to our comfy couch. I was awoken when a loud banging that could only be Jacob sounded at the door. He was the only person rude enough and with big enough fists to do so. I opened the door to find him smiling and posing with a bottle of Tylenol in one hand and the other hand flat below it. I half-expected him to shout 'Tadaaaaaaa!' and confetti to drop down.

Wishful thinking can't do any harm. I hope.

I looked down at the bottle and gasped.

"Jacob you're the best!" I screamed while tackling him to the ground. Well more like attempting to tackle him, only to bounce off and be flung over and onto the couch. I sat up with a big grin, eyeing the bottle of Children's Tylenol. Everyone who knows and loves me, knows very well that I can't swallow pills.

Anyone who claims to love me and says otherwise, is a big fat liar.

"How many tablespoons do you take? It says two for children above twelve, but you're about the size of an eleven-year-old soooo… yeah." Jacob teased while reaching for a measuring cup.

"Oh. Ha. Ha. That's a knee slapper, Jacob. Really." I said sarcastically with the same bored expression I'd imagined on Jacob earlier. I wanted to slap the smirk off his face as he handed me the small cup with 1 ½ tablespoons. He knew me too well. I drank it while squinting my eyes at him, holding my gaze. He stared back, still smirking. Even after I finished the strawberry flavor liquid, we both continued until it turned into a staring contest.


	2. Chapter 2

**I just wanted to add that Gabz's mother's name, Ojinjintka, means Rose. I know the middle name 'Rose' is so... cliché? Common? But it's honestly my favorite flower. My grandfather used to take care of roses. Bella's middle name is also 'Marie' so I thought it'd make sense for Gabz to have a common middle name. Charlie named her and, in this story, he named her similar to Bella in hope that Bella's mom would accept her and not leave.**

 **I should mention the elders call her Gabe. Charlie calls her Gabe one Gabby and her friends call her Gabz.**

 **Also, in my story Charlie Swan is of Italian heritage. I know it's supposed to be a joke when the Cullen's make an Italian food because Isabella is an Italian name but, in this story, they are actually Italian. I'm doing it as a tribute to Spaghetti, Lasagna, and all other delicious pastas out there. It's the least I could do.**

 **Btw, if you didn't know, I'm Asian (;**

* * *

Bella drove me to school today.

"My first day at a new school. It's March. The middle of the semester. Great." Bella's voice startled me.

"Are you… talking to me?" My eyes narrowed as I peered over to the driver's side slowly. Bella seemed surprised, like she had forgotten I was there. I knew the feeling. Her eyes grew wider and were moving around as if she thinking of an excuse. But I knew exactly what was going on in her head.

"Who else would I be talking to?" she said slowly, her eyes also narrowing but still staying on the road.

"It just sounded like… you were narrating a story or something. Sorry." The road suddenly became fascinating to me. I stared at it for the remainder of the trip.

"Nice ride." His name was at the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't recall the name of the guy who'd spoken. He was the guy Nikki had some kind of fling with at the moment. Bella said a quiet thank you and charged forward as if she was looking for a rock to hide under.

How dare that man indirectly insult our truck and embarrass my sister on her first day! Wasn't there some kind of rule where she got the week off?

"You bet your labia it is!" I screamed in his ear before running after my sister, not forgetting to throw a boastful smirk over my shoulder at him, of course. However, I still didn't feel content. I probably wasn't loud enough to break his ear drum.

Note to self; breed Bella's little cactus.

I'd have an army of baby… cactuses? What's the plural form of cactus? Cactuses doesn't roll of the tongue like it should. I've been thinking about tongues and labia too much for one day. Oh no, I've distracted myself yet again.

Maybe it's cacti. Or just cactus. My life is so complicated.

"You're Isabell Swan, the new girl." That one Asian guy said while pointing a finger at Bella. I call him that one Asian guy because he's pretty much the only Asian guy at our school. As he introduced himself to my sister, I couldn't help but wonder if he had 20/20 vision. Oh gee, that's racist. Good thing I keep these things to myself. I'd get beaten up for all the things that came into my mind.

As soon as he started talking about a feature in the newspaper, Bella began to stammer and was heading into some kind of nervous breakdown so I felt it was my duty to get her away. Why didn't he ever offer me a feature in the newspaper? Did he have some kind of grudge against because I stereotyped Asians? He couldn't know. I've never said it out loud. It was like he could read my mind or something. Must be all that meditation they do. Well, since it didn't seem possible for me to get that feature now, I decided to use this opportunity to test one of my theories.

"Is that sushi?" I pointed towards the opposite hallway and as expected, his head snapped in that direction. I took the chance to pull Bella away and head into the crowd.

"Where? I don't see it." I heard him calling out, still looking in the other direction.

Definitely not 20/20 vision. I thought so. Poor guy, I'm sure he was the brightest pupil in all his advanced placement classes. Maybe I'd send him some origami to make him feel better. Or fortune cookies from that one Chinese place. I'll order Chinese for dinner tonight.

I felt myself nodding and realized I'd been lost in thought. I dropped Bella off at the GYM for her PE class then headed to math, which was uneventful and made my head hurt.

At lunch, I looked for Bella and was surprised to find her sitting with the Asian kid and his friends.

I looked and saw Nikki and Cameron with Chris's group. I figured it'd be more awkward to sit with the Asian guy I'd blown off earlier since I didn't know anyone from that table.

I was right and it was even less awkward than I expected at our table. Chris even tried to talk to me but I couldn't hear a thing because I was busy watching my sister. Of course, all the guys were flirting with her. Despite her low self-esteem, Bella was pretty and it was noticeable. Nikki's boy, who I have now deemed unworthy of ever knowing his name, had the nerve to come up and kiss Bella. I gave him a dirty look when he got to the table.

I watched the two girls at Bella's table closely. The mousey brown-haired on was obviously envious of the attention Bella was receiving.

Then the Cullens' came in. Bella, who seemed to have some kind of magnetic force with trouble, took immediate interest. Not good, not good at all.

Jacob had warned me about the Cullens'. They seemed to fit the description of 'The Cold Ones' from the Quileute legends.

Bella would be the idiot to fall for a vampire.

Mike insisted on walking Bella to the next class, which we happened to have together. Biology.

I don't mean to brag, well maybe a little, but I've always been exceptional in science, especially Biology. I advanced during middle school so now I was two years ahead in this subject. Since I barely passed even when I put as much effort as I could in other subjects, this was something I was particularly proud of.

And it's just pretty impressive on its own, if I do say so myself.

Just to make everything perfect, Edward Cullen was also taking Biology. Could this week get any better?!

Of course, it could. The last empty seat happened to be right next to Cullen. Amazing!

For some odd reason, Edward looked at her the way I looked at Koda's large poop before cleaning them up. It was the funniest thing I'd seen all day and was just the picker-upper I needed.

Bella even sniffed herself to check if she really stank!

Oh my gosh.

HAHAHAHA.

I forced myself to look away the whole class in order to prevent myself from bursting in laughter. I almost laughed out loud just replaying the moment in my mind. I coughed to stifle my giggles.

Edward left a second before the bell rang causing me to explode. Bella gave me a mean look and stormed after Edward. I trotted merrily behind.

When I arrived at the office I'd seen them enter, Edward was already leaving. Bella came out moments later, scowling just as Edward had. I wanted to tell her it made her bunny rabbit teeth stand out even more but she seemed to be going through a tough time so I held my tongue.

Okay, so how do I make Bella feel better? She was feeling bad because he was acting like she stank right?

Singing "Girl, you stank, wash ya ass" probably wouldn't help. I love that song though.

I decided on the simple move of smelling her armpit just to double check that she didn't have B.O.

She didn't. In fact, she smelled like Secret Deodorant. Powder Fresh scent, to be exact.

"What the hell Gabz?" she shook herself free from my grasp and crossed her arms.

"You don't stink! I was trying to make you feel better! And now I know! You used my deodorant! How could you?" What if I caught some kind of armpit disease? I could never leave the house again. I might have permanently stinky pits! Oh, woe is me!

"Gabz, stop being so dramatic, I'll buy you a new one. " I'd still sue her if I did get some kind of deodorant-sharing life-long sickness. She'd have to pay all my medical bills.

"Fine. But you have to buy a new one too. People already say we look the same. If we smelled the same, they wouldn't be able to tell us apart. I'm keeping my own identity, thank you very much." With that, Bella rolled her eyes at me and walked off, not bothering to respond.

I considered it a win on my part.

My celebration was cut short when I realized I was late for Spanish. Senorita Valencia, the poor soul was too kind to me. Even after I'd only taken her class so I could sing my favorite Shakira songs correctly.

Don't judge me. Those song make me feel better about my huge hips and chunky legs. Yeah, these hips don't lie baby. You bet your socks I'm an honest individual.

Yet I'm still a horrible person. Late for Senorita's class. On Fiesta Friday! Oh, the shame.

With that thought, I ran, err, briskly walked to class. Running in the hallways is much too dangerous. And I got to keep my cool you know.

"Buenas dias, Senorita Valencia." I tried my best to speak in Spanish.

"Hola, Gabriella. Sentarse en tu silla, por favor." I sat in my seat like I was told. I made it a point to do well in her class, by participating in all activitidades (That's activities in Spanish. I am so smart.) and raising my hand for every question.

Someone threw a rolled-up paper ball at my head. Several time.

Funny, the trashcan is on the other side of the room.

I'd have to teach them proper throwing and aim techniques sometime.

I don't know if I've mentioned it but I'm an amazing pitcher. Not to be boastful or anything.

I'm not too good at batting. By not good, I mean I've never hit a baseball in my life.

I blame the traumatic experience of being hit in the face on my first try. I tend to close my eyes as soon as they throw the ball. Sometime I duck too. Those baseballs really hurt you know.

* * *

When school was over, Bella and I met our dad at his favorite restaurant. The waitress recognized Bella.

"You are so gorgeous." she smiled. I cleared my throat to get her attention in hopes she'd compliment me as well.

"Here's a napkin honey. There's a nasty bug going' 'round. Several boys on the reserve are getting high fevers." she handed me a napkin then proceeded to talk to Bella again.

I'll admit it hurt my feelings. I was used to being the center of attention 'round here. Even the guy who dressed up as Buttcrack Santa Claus every Christmas came to talk to Bella. And to think I'd been first in line to take pictures with him every year. Stabbed me right in the heart, that did.

The waitress even forgot my favorite cobbler, which was apple cinnamon, and brought me a berry one like Bella's. How could they just forget me like that?

At least dad seemed happy. I'd just have to accept things then, as long as it cheered it him up.

When the food came, all three of us reached for the ketchup at once. With one look from my dad, I knew to let Bella have at it first. It was fine with me until I realized she'd finished it all. The waitress seemed busy so I forced myself to eat my dry, flavorless burger.

* * *

Edward was gone several days. Bella searched for him every day.

Today he was present in Biology and was rather nice to Bella.

Did he have some kind of mood disorder?

Never mind though, today there was a challenge. The first partner to finish labeling which steps of mitosis were seen in the slide would win a golden onion.

I don't know what I'd do with it but I had to win for my reputation's sake. Gabriella Rose "Gabz" swan, science extraordinaire.

"I'll look. You write." I nodded to the guy next to me. Why were all the desks in girl-boy pairs? Was the teacher trying to play match-maker? Did he enjoy watching us flirt? What if he was some kind of pedophile?

Whatever he was, his tactics were working on my sister in the desk behind me. I could hear them chatting about the weather which Bella, as I already hated. And why would she move to the wettest place in continental U.S., Edward asked. Ha. It may seem like a good question to anyone else but I knew why. To get away from her stepfather. To give her mom freedom. To get me to calm down. To make my dad happy.

"Anaphase." Bella nodded and wrote it down. I then realized I hadn't done anything and they were already done with the second.

Curse my easily distracted mind!

I should get checked for ADD, or ADHD. Whichever fit. Speaking of which, I needed to focus on the task at hand.

The first slide was Prophase.

I wouldn't admit it at the time but I barely glanced at the second. I'd heard Bella say 'Anaphase'.

I had to win that onion. My reputation depended on it. Science, the one thing I was really good at.

Just as I had identified the 7th slide, I saw Edward going towards the teacher's desk to submit their paper.

I saw the whole scene in slow motion, as if my soul had escaped my body and was watching in agony. Even so, it still felt the emotional pain given by the situation. Starting from him walking to the table, my mouth dropping open in shock. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. When I was sure it was real, I attempted to scream but it seems my voice box wouldn't work. My fist crashed down onto the table causing Edward's head to whip around in my direction.

I hated him with a passion at that moment. Why had he suddenly become so good at Biology. He hadn't even been in the top 5 in this class the whole year. For some reason, he was suddenly interested? Was it because of Bella? Or was it Bella who had betrayed me?

I couldn't blame her. She didn't know that this was my subject. And she was my sister, maybe it ran in the family to be good at this subject. Besides if I had focused from the start I would've finished way before them. I couldn't be mad at my sister. It would kill my dad if we fought.

I'd be cursed by all the entities for hating my own sweet sister who had never purposefully harmed me.

I decided that there was only one solution. I'd have to take chemistry again. I don't think I'd be able to take another loss in this subject. I couldn't be sure that this would not happened again. I'd switch out and take Biology next year, after Bella was done. That way no one's feelings would be hurt.

"You finish it." I pushed the microscope to the guy next to me then put my head down.

After he finished, which took forever might I add, I double checked just in case. I couldn't handle the shame if I'd gotten anything less than a perfect score. I even added key identifying factors in each stage in order to compensate for finishing in second.

When the paper was submitted I made a bee line for the registrar's office, a determined look on my face.

"I'm sorry dear but it's much too late to switch classes now. Either way, all other sciences are full, you're the second student to request. I don't understand why you or Cullen would want to switch though. You both are passing. You especially. You have the highest grade in the class." the registrar's word hit me like a hot frying pan. I rushed out without another word and left the school.

I walked home and crashed onto my bed. When I was finished grieving, I remembered to text Bella.

'Bells, don't wait up for me. I walked home. I have the runs. Take care.'

I don't remember falling asleep after that but somehow, I did.

* * *

I'm gone for one afternoon and Bella nearly gets herself killed by a van. That stupid guy Nikki dated. She wasn't anymore, thank God.

Today we had a field trip for Biology, in which I had taken up my rightful place as First in the class. Bella following closely behind in 2nd.

I'd worked hard, studying more than usual.

While getting on the bus, I spotted Cameron.

"Cameron? You have this class?" I stopped her before she could get on the bus.

"No, I just wanted to get a day off from school." she said matter-of-factly. I caught her eyes motioning to the right. I followed and noticed the guy she'd been after.

"Ah. I see." I winked. Well, at least I attempted to wink.

"What's wrong with your face girl? Did you just twitch?" she asked, slapping my face light. Hurry Gabz! Think of something!

"Ugh, the way the light is reflecting off the yellow paint of the school bus hurts my eyes." Nice save.

"Alright then." Cameron shrugged and pulled me on to the bus and into the three-person seat in which the guy she fancied was sitting in.

Fancied? Honestly, I needed to stop watching Harry Potter movies. I'll never get the accent down anyway.

I decided to text Jacob so I wouldn't be a cock block on the ride to our destination. He invited me to come to La Push with them. I was set on going but for conversation's sake I said I'd think about it.

'Come on Gabz. Quit playing, I know you're coming. Bring Bella if you'd like. Or if you don't like, bring her anyways. (; They say the waves are going to be good. Not that you can swim. But they're nice to look at either way. Why don't you bring binoculars so you can watch whales or something.'?

Well. I guess it's settled then.

'Ass.' I replied.

'See ya then. (; ' If we didn't go way back, I'd end the friendship immediately. He didn't even try to go along with what I was saying. I stared awkwardly at the roof of the bus the rest of the ride.

After looking at the plants and compost, I finally cornered Cameron alone. What's-his-face must've gone to pee or something. I pushed the mental image out of my head. He probably had a small winky. I'd know sooner or later, at the rate Cameron was going.

"Jake invited me to La Push. Wanna come? Jared will probably be there." I wiggled my eyebrows. I assume I did so correctly because I got the desired effect of Cameron rolling her eyes and walking away while shaking her head.

I followed eagerly behind.

"I am not marrying someone because of their last name Gabz! And how many time do I have to say that Cameron Cameron sounds stupid." Cameron said after much pestering.

"I'm not deaf, Cameron. How can you convince that it doesn't sound awesome when I can hear it with my own ears! Psh. You're crazy."

Jared and Cameron Cameron.

They could start a family tradition of naming all their kids Cameron. Cameron is a unisex name so the name Cameron Cameron would be passed along many generations to come. I couldn't wait to tell her grandchildren how I'd thought of it. Me, ol' Granny Cameron Cameron's good friend they'd say.

"Gabz, why are you smiling at the ceiling? Are you daydreaming about my off spring again? Really?"

I shifted my gaze to her, slowly narrowing my eyes. The smile on my face deepening. I paused a moment before speaking to make things more dramatic.

"You love me."

* * *

It was finally the day to go to La Push. I wore a wet suit even though I knew I wouldn't be getting in the water with Bella and her friends, who were going to the same place as we were. What a cowinkydink.

"Will you quit bouncing?" The sound of Cameron's tone and scoffing afterwards, only made me more excited.

The faster I got them together, the faster my dreams would become reality. She'd thank me someday, I know it.

When we got there, Jacob came while the others were zipping up their wet suits. Bella was telling Angela to take control or something. I felt the need to butt in.

"V-Power!" I held up my fingers in a peace sign which also looks like a V. The first letter of a certain organ only found in females.

Thank you, Sex Ed.,

And my good pals, Nikki and Cameron, for being so open with me and sharing all the dirty details of every relationship.

Jacob noticed Bella before me. Some best friend. No matter. if he ever got mad at me, I'd remember this very moment and hold it against him until he forgave me for whatever I'd done wrong.

He noticed me after taking a piece of licorice from Bella, by simply patting my leg.

Yes, Jacob keep digging your own grave. Mwahaha.

He frowned at me when he noticed my conniving smile.

"You're planning something."

I didn't bother to respond other than a quick chuckle.

When Bella and gang brought up Edward Cullen, Jake turned his full attention to them. Ignoring me, yet again. They even started walking down the beach without me. I pulled Cameron along and chased after them. Cameron started doing leaps and turns on the beach.

I tried to do the same, Jete en tourmant. Let's just say it wasn't _as_ graceful as Cameron's and I ended up on the floor. I picked myself up quickly looking around to see only Cameron had noticed. She snorted then continued. I decided to do some nice front flips.

Thank the Lord for my muscular man-arms.

When the world stop spinning around, I noticed three boys jumping off a cliff.

"Sam Uley and his gang." Jacob muttered while steering Bella away.

To my delight, Jared Cameron was part of said gang. However, when they dove I deemed into the deep waters, the idea of approaching them impossible and dragged Cameron with me back to Jacob.

"So, we're having a little get-together later on. Maybe you'd like to come Bella." Jacob said awkwardly, running a hand through his beautiful hair. I wonder if my hair is that nice from behind. I'll have to ask what he does to it then get someone to picture me from behind.

I then spotted Angela. Victim targeted.

"Uh, I'm feeling pretty tired Jake." Did she just call him Jake? Didn't they just see each other for the second time? The grin on Jacob's face told me I wasn't hearing things.

"Okay, well maybe another time?" Jake, I mean Jacob, or Jay Jay like I used to call him, asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Uh, sure." Bella nodded. She seemed to have other things on her mind. Her loss.

Wait.

Jay Jay, as I would now call him regardless to who was listening, had forgotten to invite me. I waited a few moments with an expecting face. He gave me another what-is-wrong-with-you face. I'm adding that to the list of things I'd use against him someday, by the way.

I wasn't going to wait any longer.

"Cameron and I would love to go! See ya there Jay Jay." I patted him on the pack, satisfied with the wide-eyed look on his face. I linked my arm with Cameron, something I would never have done if I had not been so proud of what had just happened.

I looked back at Jacob with a triumphant smirk, not daring to attempt to wink again.

* * *

That night was filled with the usual drums and dances of the tribe. I taught Cameron some basic steps and soon enough she'd caught on and was dancing around almost as wildly as me.

That is, until I bumped into someone and fell on the ground.

What a freaking giant.

That someone didn't even bother to help me up.

When I looked up I wasn't surprised to see it was Paul Lahote, the biggest asshole I've ever met. He bullied me through-out elementary. He called me 'the White Lady', to remind me about how I was one of the few lighter skinned students on the Rez. Thankfully, only him and some of his friends used the nickname so I let it go. When he realized I wasn't affected by this he turned his bullying up a notch. He pushed me in the sand, put bugs in my hair, kicked my block towers, stepped on my kite after it fell. You know stuff like that.

That's why I was shocked to find him staring at me, his mouth slightly ajar but somehow smiling at the same time.

It was downright creepy, now that I think about it.

But at the moment it hadn't been. My head even turned sideways like a puppy before I smiled at him shyly. Like a proper lady or something.

My unusual inner ranting and turmoil seemed to stop for a moment. The people around were blurred in my vision and it was like someone had turned down the volume of their voice. The only thing clear to me was the 6-foot russet-skinned man in front of me, who was still gaping at me like a fish out of water. For some reason I didn't understand at the time, the world seemed complete and a better place to live in.

The moment was interrupted and I came back into reality when Sam lifted me up.

"Oh, hey Samuel." I grinned like the love-sick fool I was.

"I told you not to call me that, Gabriella." his jaw clenching as he put me down.

"Don't call me Gabriella then, _Samuel_." I drew out his name slowly to emphasize.

He took a deep breath then turned his attention to Paul, who had a confused expression on his face. He was still staring at me. It was weird but I liked it.

Wait, I like it? What's happening to me? When did everyone stop dancing?

The elders had knowing smiles on their faces, except my Grandfather. His expression was unreadable. But then again, that's how his face is all the time. Emily and some of the others had the same knowing smiles I mentioned earlier.

"Oh my." I thought aloud. This was weird and for some reason, I had a bad feeling about it all now that I'd come to my senses.

Cameron looked confused.

"Gabe Swan, daughter of Charlie Swan and Ojinjintka Ateara, we shall speak tomorrow. Please take yourself and your friend home before it gets too late." Billy Black patted me on the back before nodding at Jake to take us home.

"Okay, what the hell just happened Gabz?" Cameron demanded, "Wasn't that the boy who bullied you throughout your childhood? Why you guys looking' like you've gone and fell in love? What about Chris? You do know he quit slanging' to try and get back with you, don't you?".

I gulped. I had no idea what had happened.

I also felt someone glaring at me for the first time. I had no idea you could feel stuff like that you know. Was this some kind of new sense? I wonder how many people glared at me in one day. Would this further distract me from the things I'd have to do? I'd go crazy.

I looked back and saw Paul, looking very angry. Sam and Jared were holding him back.

It was so scary I forgot to make some genius remark about the beautifully named children Jared and Cameron would someday give me.

* * *

 **PAUL'S POV.**

I was able to snap out of my daze when Sam helped my imprint up. I felt a growl rumble in my chest when he held her hand but was silenced by a quick glance from Sam.

I couldn't believe it.

Of all the people, it had to be the cute midget.

I mean just midget! Damn imprint, making me think things.

There is nothing cute about her small size and sexy hips.

Fuck!

Okay, I guess the curvy part isn't so bad. It's not tall and slender like I thought I liked, but it definitely turned me on.

Shit, I don't even know if this is really me or the imprint speaking.

Billy Black informed her to meet at his place tomorrow. He gave a stern look to me and I know he wanted me to do the same. Just as I was about to give him a dirty look back, I noticed my imprint was leaving with her friend. Her friend was asking what was going on. Her friend mentioned a Chris, who had quit selling drugs and wanted to get back with _my_ imprint. I felt myself start to shake then Sam's hand in my shoulder warning me not to phase here. It took all the control I had to stop myself from phasing until I had jogged into the forest. As I ran in wolf form, I was able to calm myself.

What the hell did I care if she had an ex-boyfriend or whatever the hell this Chris guy was to her.

I have never in my life desired to imprint on someone.

Not even with Rachel. It's not a secret that the only thing that made this relationship work is the distance. I couldn't stand to be around someone for too long.

Except Gabby.

Wait. No!

Where did I get Gabby from? I don't give a shit about her.

I'd fight this imprinting crap.

I'd tell Billy tomorrow at their house. In front of Gabby.

Gabe.

Gabz.

That annoying white lady.

Yeah.

Fuck, Rachel is going to kill me.

* * *

 **GABZ POV**

Staring at my phone and the unfamiliar number on the screen I debated on whether I should open it.

Who could it be? I suddenly remembered the movie 'When A Stranger Calls'. What if my life was some kind of sequel titled 'When A Stranger Texts'? I hate scary movies. I'd only watched it because Jacob had bought the ticket before I could stop him. By the time I had realized it, the ticket was already printing.

I couldn't just waste money like that. Not to mention the paper used to make that ticket. Yeah, I'm a closet tree hugger. Judge me.

Just as I'd expected I'd developed a phobia of unknown numbers.

Then again it could also be the lotto in which I'd bought a ticket to last week. My curiosity got the better of me.

'Be at Billy's tomorrow at 7am' it read. I replied asking who it was, just to make sure it wasn't a serial killer.

Because a serial killer would totally reply 'Oh it's me the guy from the first movie. I'll be killing you at Billy's tomorrow so don't be late!'.

Nice one Gabz.

I'd be lying if I told you I didn't at least half-expect it though since whoever it was took so long to reply. I took a long shower and got back to an empty inbox.

'Paul' finally came the answer. I almost wished I hadn't asked.

If this serial killer was any good at stalking, he would know what happened with Paul earlier and that Billy had said to go to his place the following day.

I did the only logical thing I could think of.

I panicked, sneaking around the house with a baseball bat (Oh, the irony.). I snuck around like I'd seen spies do in movie, making sure to lock the doors and windows.

"Uhm, Gabz. May we know exactly what you're up to?" I looked over to the table where my dad and Bella were eating Chinese food.

Perfect, now I had five fortune cookies for that Asian kid.

Now, I didn't want to cause panic in my dad and sister because that would only make things worse.

"Nothing." I narrowed my eyes while scooting away sideways then throwing the bat down the hallway.

I sat down and ate my orange chicken rice topping but didn't have much of an appetite because I realized by locking all the doors and windows, I may have locked the serial killer inside our home.

The piece of chicken I'd been eating fell out of my mouth as I gasped. Which made me choke on a piece of rice. How could something so small almost kill me.

Maybe that's what the serial killer had wanted. The thing I least I expected to harm me, food, would kill me. That's why he texted me so that I would panic and lock all entrances only to realize he might already be inside. Thus, making me gasp and choke on rice.

It was like karma for me stereotyping that Asian kid in an almost racist fashion.

Maybe he was the serial killer. That would explain his motive. But not why he tried to kill the girl in the first movie, 'When A Stranger Calls', which I still don't understand the ending of.

Whatever his motive may be, sorry Mr. Serial Killer, you're good but not good enough.

My dad's a cop and he knows the Heimlich maneuver.

So, HA.

* * *

The texter was really Paul. I asked Jacob for his number and it matched the one that texted. Although I'm smart enough to think that the serial killer may have used Paul's phone, apparently, I'm not smart enough to stop me from going to Billy's house at 7 am sharp. I brought the bat though and the pepper spray I stole from Bella.

Billy was waiting for me on the front porch. Paul, or the serial killer, was not yet there.

It really ground my gears.

Who tells someone to be somewhere at a certain time SHARP and then is late?

You don't see me going around telling my teachers they better be on time for class tomorrow.

Paul arrived at about 7:35am and I was already in a pissy mood by then. I was secretly relieved that he hadn't been killed by the serial killer but I'd deny it if anyone asked.

"Oh gee, Mr. 7 am SHARP has arrived." I rolled my eyes dramatically to achieve the effect I wanted.

If he had seemed happy to see me before I'd opened my big fat bunny-toothed pie hole, he didn't now. He ignored me then went directly inside. I followed and sat opposite him on the dining table. Billy sat on the side chair on my right and Paul's left.

"I'm just going to get straight to the point." Billy said after a long awkward moment. "Paul, I know you know about imprinting but Gabe, do you remember?"

Of course, I remembered those crazy legends. They'd been telling me them my whole life.

I nodded slowly. I don't see how this had anything to do with me. Was this supposed to cheer me up? Did he invite me here for story-telling?

He didn't even offer me coffee and muffins.

"Gabe, it is vital that you do not share this information with anyone. The supposed legends are true." Okay, real funny. I saw where he was going. I'll play along.

"Which ones, Bill?" I made myself look fascinated.

"All of them Gabe. We tell them so that those involved, like yourself and Paul, won't be so shocked when the time comes."

I stayed silent waiting for him to laugh and say 'April Fool's'. It was still March but everyone expected to be pranked on April First so it would make sense to prank early on.

I'd have to try it on someone.

"Gabe?" Billy waved his hand in front of me, still not laughing.

Okay this is getting old. Okay Gabz, poker face. He's testing you.

"Gabe. Say something. I'm trying to explain. Let me say it simply. Paul is a shape-shifter. Paul has imprinted on you. You have the choice to accept it or not though. But whatever you choose, you must keep this a secret. I know you know the stories. We shape-shifters are here to protect the people. However, people do not always see clearly when they are scared. So, it is better not to tell."

I didn't know how to react. I guess it made sense. Billy wasn't laughing either so this joke was either really well played out, or he was serious. I'd never heard Billy make a joke like this before.

So, if this was all true. How do I react? I wasn't sure about Paul. He'd always been such an ass to me. Not just as kids but even when we got older. I looked at the tall man in front of me.

He'd grown bigger and taller, just like legends described shape-shifters after phasing.

He was handsome. But he'd always been. He'd always known it. Everyone knew about his playboy reputation. Rachel knew but chose to ignore it while she was in college. Oh my, what about Rachel? She's not fond of me but I'm not that kind of girl to steal someone's man.

Hypothetically speaking, if this was all true and not some joke.

How would I be sure he wouldn't just mess with me?

Could you do that to your imprint?

"My choice?" was all I managed to say. Paul slammed his hand on the table and got up. He threw his shirt on the floor before running outside and...?

Turning into an over-sized wolf?

Don't see that every day.

Damnit Gabz, we have a situation here. Get yourself together!

So, the shape-shifter thing was true. And judging from last night, the whole weird staring thing probably meant the imprint thing was true.

* * *

 **PAUL POV**

That's all she could say?

Her choice?

So, she didn't want me.

Ouch.

I'd never felt like this before. Like someone had ripped my heart out and stomped all over.

Then shot it and set it on fire just to make sure it was all gone.

She wanted out? Fine then! I don't want this bullshit either.

 _Paul, where are you?_ I heard Jared's voice. He must've been on patrol and heard my thoughts. He knew about the imprint too.

 _Fuck off. I'll finish patrols, just get out of my head._ I wasn't aware wolves could roll their eyes. But I did.

 _Paul. She just asked if she had a choice. She just found out the legends are true. Give the imprint a chance. Fate doesn't just choose any random girl. She'll make you better. Besides, you can't blame her. You've been bullying the girl since elementary. Just put in the effort to show you can be nice to her. She'll change her mind. Come on, it's Gabz. Everyone else on the reserve loves Gabz. Sure, she's a little weird... annoying, short... She's borderline crazy, the way she's always so deep in thought but it's... cute, I guess. We all learned to love her the way she is. All but you. Just try it man._

Breathe in. Breathe out. Deeper. Okay, calming down.

 _Paul. Honestly. Are you calming yourself down just to get me out of your head? Well I guess the girl's already getting you to calm down somehow. It's a good start._

Quiet. Now where am I going to find new shorts.

* * *

 **GABZ POV**

Billy didn't react to Paul's outburst.

"Yes, dear. You have a choice." Billy said getting up to get some coffee.

Finally!

Just as Billy's back was turned, a butt-naked Paul ran through and into Rachel's room.

I've never seen a man naked before but his man parts looked a lot bigger than the pictures in our text books. I'd have to tell Nikki and Cam later. I'd officially be initiated into their dirty-minded duo.

Wait a sec. He was naked.

And went in Rachel's room.

He knows exactly where it is.

So, he's been there before.

Perhaps many times?

As I put two and two together, I couldn't help but feel a little pang of jealousy and an even stronger feeling of her.

I guess imprinting is exaggerated in the stories.

I wanted to storm out but that would be rude.

And I'd be eyeing the chocolate chip muffin Billy had put on a plate for me. My weakness.

* * *

After several delicious muffins, and Paul not having left Rachel's room yet, I was full and decided to pay someone a visit. A certain someone who would know all about imprinting and secretly loved me like the little sister he'd never had.

I bid farewell to Billy, promising for the umpteenth time that I wouldn't tell anyone. Even though Paul had made my decision for me.

I don't care if it's Rachel or Jacob's sister for that matter. I don't share my stuff. She doesn't look clean anyways. I might catch a disease or something.

Alas, after a very tiring walk, I'd reached my destination.

"Ohhhh Samuellllll!" I called into my favorite almost-big-brother-figure's house.

Emily came out, smiling.

"I've been expecting you, Gabe. Come inside and help me in the kitchen, will you?" I did as told. I was a little nervous that she'd been expecting me. It meant she had a lot of questions for me. But I'd decided on the walk over that I didn't want anything to do with Paul. I'd just get hurt.

"So, how was the talk with Billy and Paul?". I knew it. I felt myself sighing. It hurt to think about it but maybe talking to Emily would help. That is why I came over after all, to talk to someone. It wasn't Samuel but Emily's just as great. I kind of wanted Samuel's opinion though, seeing as he could relate more with Paul's situation.

"Not so good Em. He stormed off when I asked if I had a choice. Turned into a wolf and the whole shebang." For some reason, I left out that he'd come back naked and went to Rachel.

"It must've hurt him then Hun. If he was angry enough to phase afterward." she looked up at me from the meat she'd been slicing. I grabbed the vegetables she had out and began to slice as well.

Hurt? I had just asked a question. I just found out the stories I'd been told my whole life were actually true. What the hell did he expect? That ass. Any feeling I had to protect his image went away.

"I dunno. He went into Rachel's room butt-naked shortly after." I officially hated him. He knew I was there. Why would he do that? Was I not good enough to be his imprint or something? He couldn't wait until I had left?

"Slow down, dear. You'll cut yourself." I had started pretending the cucumber I'd been slicing was his man parts, in order to vent my anger. I slowed down since I was frightening Emily. "There. Just calm down. Now, Paul and Rachel have been dating on and off for a while. Before he imprinted sweetie. It's not going to just go away overnight. You know that Sam was with Leah before he imprinted on me. He chose me though." She winked at me at the last part.

Why couldn't I wink like that? Could Rachel wink like that?

Okay Gabz, calm yourself. Stop comparing yourself. So, what if he might like Rachel better, it didn't mean I wasn't likeable. Chris was still there right? He was changing.

But Samuel left Leah for Emily. Would Paul do that to Rachel?

"Did Samuel imprint on you too?" I asked. Emily nodded. I didn't want to ask more about Leah. I felt it might be a touchy subject. So was the scar on her face, which I wondered now if Samuel had done it.

"But did he know you before he imprinted? Why did Paul imprint on me now? Why not when we were younger?" The questions came cascading out of my mouth. All my insecurities.

"No, he imprinted when we met. But Sam had already phased by the time we met, so I guess the situation's a little different hon. But you'll never know if you don't try. You could always wait for him to leave Rachel. I'm sure he will eventually."

But eventually wasn't soon enough for me.

I wanted it now.


	3. Chapter 3

**This will probably be one of the last chapters I take from the old story, and I'll start new from here. I felt like it moved too fast.**

* * *

 **PAUL POV**

As I lay next to Rachel's sleeping form, I couldn't help but think if Jared was right.

Rachel was great, and the sex we'd just had was amazing as always. But I kept imagining it was Gabby, err, Gabz.

I wasn't sure. How did I know if I could make her choose me? What if no matter what I did, she still didn't want me?

I know I could handle if Rachel left me. With Gabby, I guess I'll call her that in my mind, even the smallest rejection felt like it could kill me.

I'm going soft. Damn.

I had to fight this.

Rachel stuck with me no matter what dumb shit I did.

She knew me well and I knew I ever was forced to settle down someday it'd have to be the person who accepted me for who I am, right?

Why should I change for someone to want me?

This imprint shit is bullshit.

"Hon?" Rachel had finally awoken. I was almost angry at her for interrupting my thoughts. It was the imprint speaking most likely, so I ignored it. I think Sam's theory was right. It's just about genetics and who would make the best baby. That's all the wolf in me wants.

I didn't want kids anyways.

I could imagine a bunch of little Gabby's running around.

"Hon, why are you smiling? Get out of bed and dressed, we gotta go to Emily's." I stopped smiling. Damn I hadn't even noticed. The wolf in me must be smiling at the genetically perfect kids we'd have.

* * *

I was in an extremely good mood going to Emily's. Despite the look Billy had given me before Rachel and I left, holding hands.

I was even humming the 'I'm walking on sunshine' song that I hate. Rachel laughed at me so I stopped.

When I arrived at Emily's I knew why.

 _She_ was there.

First, I saw her dancing, shaking her hips while flipping an egg to the music blasting from her cellphone. [See How to Wop and Cook Breakfast on YouTube to help imagine. Hahaha.]

 _"Turn around and wop, wop, wop, wop."_ I gaped at her as she shook some salt onto the egg.

 _"like DANG she fiiiine."_ The way she rolled her body almost gave me a hard-on right then and there.

Rachel cleared her throat and Gabby stopped mid-roll. She stayed in that position, gawking at Rachel and I. It felt good when she looked at me.

She has the prettiest lips, nice and thick. I bet they'd be so soft pressed against mine. She had the cutest little button nose to and deep brown eyes that seemed to shine. Her dark curls completed the look.

I can't believe I'd never noticed what was right in front of me.

I'm going soft. But I don't care.

I need her to be mine. Rachel's gasp was barely audible to me when I let go of her hand and walked inside, leaving her behind.

* * *

 **GABZ POV**

If this wasn't the most embarrassing moment of my life, it was on the top 10 list.

Then I noticed Paul and Rachel holding hands.

Top Five.

I stopped staring at them after the song had finished and played again, since it was on repeat.

What can I say, it helps me get things done. How can you not want to get things done to this song? If you don't like this song, YOU have a hearing problem.

I stopped my rationalizing when Paul moved inside. My heart was beating. At the same time, I felt anger building up in me. Probably because of Rachel. It was the weirdest sensation, my anger growing in sync with every pump of my heart.

It was like my heart was being strangled.

That's poetic. I'll have to write that down somewhere no one would see.

* * *

 **PAUL POV**

Gabby was definitely different. She looked hurt just a moment ago and now she was grinning like an evil villain from a cartoon. It warmed my heart. Jared had to be right. Okay, Paul. This could be a bad situation. Rachel's still here.

I wish she wasn't.

"Hon? Sit down. I'm going to go help in the kitchen." I really wish she wasn't here. I sat down anyway and felt her massage my shoulder. But I was almost numb to her touch while looking at Gabby.

My Gabby.

At least, she would be. She had to be, very soon. Or I'd go crazy.

Her grin went away when Rachel touched me. I'd do anything to make her smile again.

Was she jealous? I hate to say it but I loved the feeling that she might be. Or meant that she cared.

"Paul!" Sam? I really hoped he wouldn't... "Have you decided about Gabriella? She's a... oooh." He cringed when he realized Rachel was there. All hell was about to break lose. Rachel had a temper that rivaled mine. And she was holding a knife! I felt my body get up faster than my mind could tell it to, like it was some kind of reflex. I stood between her and the love of my life.

My Gabby. Soon.

I gripped Rachel's wrist as she almost stabbed me.

"Paul," she said in a quiet voice that was too calm, "What about Gabe?".

I wanted to defend Gabby. I wanted to make her fears go away and destroy anything that could hurt her.

But I didn't. Like the coward I am.

"Nothing hon." I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth.

My guilt grew as everyone in the house looked at me in disbelief. What hurt the most was Gabby's expression. It was shock, anger, and... hurt? I'd fucked up.

Kind of. In a way I'd also done the right thing. Rachel might have physically hurt her if I'd said anything while she was still there.

Still the emptiness I felt as Gabby got her bag and left was unbearable. Yet I couldn't make myself go after her either with Rachel there.

* * *

 **GABZ POV**

I don't know what I expected. Or why I'd expected anything else.

My pillow was there for me though. A shoulder to cry on and a punching bag all in one. Who needs Paul when I have my pillow!

Damn him! I hate him! This imprint stuff is bullshit. For sure this time! I'll never forgive him. He couldn't even tell Rachel he'd imprinted on me. It was true, even if he chose her. She'd probably be flattered too that his love for her was so strong that not even imprinting on me could make it go away.

* * *

I told Cameron I'd seen Paul naked. I left out the whole wolf and imprint thing. I told her he'd said he loved me when we talked at Billy's but rushed out when I didn't say anything back. I lied that it was tribe tradition when a guy liked a girl to confront them in front of the parents and since my dad wasn't part of the tribe, Billy did since he as the closest thing I had to a father in the tribe.

I felt bad when she believed me and advised me to forget him.

"Girl, Chris said he'd change for you. If I were you, that's who I'd pick. Not the temperamental guy who ran out before you could speak. Even if he big. I'm sure Chris is too. You'll never know if you don't try baby girl. Now stop moping'. Especially if he's after that Rachel bitch. You, are too good for that" she touched the tip of my nose at her last word. I was lucky to have a friend like her. Even if she's a perv.

"You're right. I'll just forget all about-" Just as I was saying the words, the devil himself walked in.

"Class we have a new transfer student from the reservation. Please be nice."

I hate math. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. This has been an overall bad month for me. I'm the most unfortunate person in the world.

Damn this handsome boy.

"Oh girl, look. If Chris don't work, there's a gorgeous new student." Cameron nudged me.

"Cam. That's him." I let my head bang on the desk. Why me?

"Girl, forget what I said. You needa hit that.".

I shook my head no.

"Okay, then I will." I looked up just to glare at her, "Just joking. Damn lighten up.".

"There's a seat next to Miss Swan at their table, Mr. Lahote." the teacher pointed at me and I let my head bang on the table. Again. And again. And again.

"Sit properly Miss Swan." the teacher droned. I did so slowly with my eyes closed. When I opened them, I saw Cameron sitting across from me, smiling at me, her eyes glowing with excitement.

"Don't be rude Gabz." she taunted.

I looked at her.

Then at Paul.

Then back to Cam.

"I thought you were on my side."

"Girl, I am. You don't even know." she said, still smiling but now starting on her math assignment.

Math and Paul. The two things I hate most.

It must be the serial killer again. He wants me to kill myself like in those Saw movies.

The sadistic bastard.

* * *

 **PAUL POV**

Gabby was looking around suspiciously.

Paranoid much?

She's weird like Jared said, that's for sure.

It sets her apart from everyone in the room. She was the only not doing her work. I'd do it for her but I'm no good at math. I wonder if she gets good grades. It's okay if she doesn't, but it'd make her even more wonderful, if that's even possible.

I looked up at her every few seconds. Then she would look at me so I'd get back to my work. When the bell rang she hadn't done anything and got straight up. Her friend, the one she'd brought to the reserve looked at me.

"You're not going to go after her? After you've been looking at her the whole period? You dumber than you look boy. That's a turn off."

Turn off? What if Gabby wouldn't like me cause I'm not some genius nerd? Shit, I'm hittin' the books tonight.

"Hey! Go get her!" I nodded then headed in the direction Gabby had gone.

I found her in the parking lot, of all places. Smoking a cigarette. Didn't she have asthma? Yeah, I remember she used to carry an inhaler around. Was she trying to kill herself? I took the cigarette out of her hand and threw it on the ground.

"Are you trying to fucking kill yourself?" Temper Paul. Breathe in.

"The hell do you care." she said nonchalantly.

"You're asthmatic. Don't lie. I remember you carrying that inhaler thing."

"So?" was all she said, shrugging.

The idiot. Why didn't she care? Didn't she have some form of self-preservation?

"You're killing yourself."

"Again. Why do you care? You couldn't defend me in front of Rachel but you can from cigarettes? Are you ashamed of me Paul? Think you're unlucky cause I'm the one you imprinted on? You don't even know me!" She stormed back towards the school.

Was I the reason she was doing this? No one said anything about her smoking before. I'd have to find out.

Luckily, I had English class with Cameron and the other girl I'd see her with a few times. Couldn't remember her name even if I tried. I sat next to Cameron.

"So, did you find her?" she raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded. Before she could ask what happened I blurted out.

"How long has she been smoking?".

She looked to the girl next to her who in turn, looked me up and down.

"Not long. Why?" the girl said. It was obvious she didn't like me by the tone of her voice. I could sense she was protective over Gabby. I liked her already. We'd be good friends.

"I found her smoking in the parking lot. She's asthmatic. I'm Paul by the way." I held out my hand.

"Well, maybe if you weren't such a douche, she wouldn't do stupid shit." she said, she looked at my hand for a moment before shaking it, "Nikki. La Gaby tells me and Cam everything. So, watch yourself boy.".

"Now, since we have time now. Who the fuck is Rachel?" Cameron put her hand on her hip.

Shit.

"No one important." I muttered. I really didn't want to talk about her.

"Oh, really now. That's now what I heard. How bout you Cam?". Nikki look from me to Cam.

"Mhm, she sure sounded like someone to me, Nikki." Both girls looked at me.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you."

* * *

 **GABZ POV**

Biology made me feel better. It got my mind off of Paul. How could it not?

We learned about Genetics and Reproduction. I wonder how many chromosomes shape-shifters have. Are the cold ones from the legends true too?

How many chromosomes would they have? My eyes flashed to Edward. If they were real, he was definitely one.

And of course, he was dating my sister. Bella was happy though so I'd just have to watch Edward closely. One slip-up and he was dead. Wait, vampires are already dead, right? So, if he was a dead vampire, he'd be super dead. Yeah!

I followed behind them to the cafeteria. I am so smooth. They didn't even notice me.

They were too into each other. I'm surprised they weren't sucking each other's faces off yet, the way they looked at each other.

Ha-ha. Suck. Ha-ha vampire.

Get it?

Unless he sucked Bella's blood.

Not funny!

Okay they're sitting with Bella's group.

Oh, Chris! Just in time.

I noticed suddenly that he wasn't as handsome as Paul. Although he was quite the Latino hottie; caramel skin, dark hair, and athletic body. Most of the girls in the school wanted him but he'd chosen me. Still, Chris was smaller than Paul though especially with Paul's werewolf genes. That meant, his winky was smaller too.

But it doesn't matter because I am not like that! Cameron and Nikki have tainted my mind!

He smiled when he caught my eye. I tried to smile back but I couldn't look him in the eye because of the dirty images in my mind, so it came out really awkward and most likely didn't look anywhere near a smile.

"Hey Gabz." he said when I sat next to him. Flirt mode on. I'll show you Paul! Two can play at this game. I'll make you regret the day you challenged Gabriella Rose Ateara Swan!

Bwahahah!

Okay stop it Gab. People are starting to notice. Back to whoring it up.

"Miss me?" I asked happily. Okay. Not sexy. I'm cute though, right?

Right?

Damn you inner monologue.

That pizza looks delicious. Stop! Get ahold of yourself woman! Resist that juicy slice of heavenly cheese and tomato goodness.

Gah!

I'm not hungry.

I'm not hungry.

I'm not hungry.

"You hungry Gab?"

"I'm not hungry." I said out loud.

"Oookay..." he said grabbing the slice of pizza. I flinched a little but Chris didn't notice.

That pizza must be really tasty then. I watched him eat it, getting a bit of tomato saucy goodness on the corner of his mouth.

Looking around, I saw Paul had entered the cafeteria... with Nikki and Cam

Okay, I'll figure that out later. I couldn't resist smiling so I made it a bitchy one as I slowly wiped the sauce off Chris's mouth with a napkin, giggling cutely.

I almost instantly regretted it.

* * *

I somehow felt the pain I saw on Paul's face. It only lingered a quick second then I saw the temper of the Paul I knew. I expected him to come and punch Chris in the face but he didn't. He turned on his heel, pushing past my two best friends, and disappeared down the hallway.

Well. Didn't see that coming.

"Que es su problema? (What's his problem?)" Chris asked. I didn't answer him. Instead I got up and followed after Paul like any girl from a cliche romance movie would. I caught up with him after a few minutes of tiresome 'brisk walking', as I like to call it. He turned away when he saw me and punched a locker.

Hey, I've never seen this locker before. Kind of looks like mine, from the girl's PE locker room but oh... boy's PE locker room.

"Why did you follow me?" he didn't turn around and I was glad. He sounded hurt, again. I didn't want to see him hurt again. I guess I'm that kind of person. I don't like seeing others hurt.

"Because it's my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." I don't apologize often but I felt it was the only way to make things better. Come to think of it, it was the first time I'd ever intentionally hurt someone. Maybe it was because I'd been bullied so much by the man standing in front of me. Back when he was a boy though, and he was obviously a man now. Okay not the time to admire his body. I bet he has nice abs though.

"Didn't mean to what? To be all over that Chris fucker? I didn't know you're such a little whore. I didn't think about this before I came here." Oh, hell no! Here I am trying to say sorry and he insults me! We can't have that. Think of something mean Gabz! Stupid Paul, coming here.

"Why _did_ you come here?" That's all I could think of. Not too mean. I guess I didn't really want to hurt him.

"Isn't it obvious?" he finally faced me, his eyes wet as if a tear was about to fall. Dang, we weren't even together yet and he's crying over this? "Gabby," What the? He paused as if also unsure at the nickname he'd used, "I fucked up. I don't want to be with Rachel. I tried to fight the imprint because I don't want to get hurt. By you. But you're more amazing than I could ever imagine a girl to be. You keep getting even more so the more I get to know you. I'd be stupid to not even try."

Well, that's some Nicholas Sparks ass shit right there. Still, what happened at Emily's was fresh in my mind.

"Bet your balls you done fucked up. Why couldn't you say it to her then? You keep talking sweet but your actions don't back it up. Did you expect to just come here and I'd be okay with that? You left me at Billy's because I asked if I had a choice. Then you slip into Rachel's room without even a second glance at me. It's a little much, Paul. How can I trust you when all you've ever done was hurt me?" I felt I had the right to be dramatic. No one was around. And he was saying stuff that would really get my hopes up if I believed any of it.

"At Billy's I was in denial. And we've been together for years. I can't just forget that overnight!" He sounded just like Emily. He must've talked to her too. "Then at Emily's I realized that I wanted you more. You're perfect, Gabby."

Again, with the name, "I know I probably don't deserve you but hey maybe for once in my life I'll get lucky and you'll want me too. I think I need you, even if I don't want to."

"And you didn't tell Rachel because?" I felt like a recording on repeat. I didn't take to heart what he'd been saying. Except for that last part, for once in his life? Poor kid, no wonder he bullied me so much. Had to vent out all that frustration somewhere.

"She would've hurt you Gab. She had a knife in her hand. Even if I stopped her. I didn't want her to do anything crazy with you there."

That certainly put things into perspective.

"I told her as soon as you'd left. I let her slap me, punch me, whatever she wanted. I didn't care, as long as it was taken out on me and not you." Paul was out of breath after his long declaration of his feelings towards me. His chest was heaving a little.

So, he did tell her. He said something about wanting me, more right? I wonder if he'd get mad if I asked him to write everything down so I could analyze everything he said. Before I could say anything, his lips came crashing on to mine. My body reacted before I knew what was going on. He was surprisingly gentle.

I know I'm being cliché again but I felt safe in his arms. You know you would too, he's a big beefy man.

He's a freaking shape-shifting wolf spirit warrior for goodness sake! He kills vampires. Or at least the legends say so. If you have a shape-shifting wolf spirit warrior taking care of you and you don't feel safe, then you're paranoid and should seek medical attention immediately!

"Um, Gabby?" Why does he call me - hey, he's not kissing me anymore? Judging by his grin and the way he was raising his eyebrows at me in disbelief, I could tell he hadn't been kissing me for some time now. Had I really just stood there with my eyes close and lips puckered?

Puckered. Ha-ha that word makes me giggle. Paul started laughing with me.

"I stood there looking stupid for a while huh?" I asked. Wow, that's really embarrassing.

"Yeah, I stop when I noticed your eyebrows furrowing. At first, I thought you were in pain but I realized you must have been thinking about something so I let you be. I didn't want to disturb you but it was getting long so I kinda worried." As if standing there like an idiot wasn't humiliating enough.

"If you want to take back everything you just said, I'd understand." I meant it too. I wouldn't want to date someone as unusual as me. I wonder if I'd ever find anyone on my level. What would our kids be like? I was yet again interrupted by his kiss. I focused this time. I was the one to break away the second time.

"Should we get out of the boy's locker room? If someone caught us they'd think all kinds of nasty things, and honestly, I wouldn't blame them. They'd probably spread all kinds of rumors and I still wouldn't blame them cause it's my fault for putting myself in this position."

"Are those the kinds of things that normally go on in that cute little head of yours?" I shuddered a little as he ran his hands through my hair. It was so calming. I managed to nod slowly as he continued to rub my head.

"You're right though. Let's go." he whispered. I followed him without arguing.

I felt so relaxed I didn't even recap on what had just happened. Next thing I knew, we were in the parking lot getting onto his big motorcycle.

"What happened to your pick-up?" I wondered out loud. It'd be nice to have him around so I'd stop talking to myself so much. Pick-ups seemed to be a thing for people from the reservation. I got mine from Billy and fate probably gave it to me and Bella because I'm half Native American. Stereotyping again I see Gabz. At least it's against my own kind this time. That makes it okay. I think.

"I didn't want it to be so obvious I'm from the Rez. And I thought you might be embarrassed by me." he shrugged and was suddenly fascinated with the Gas tank meter on his bike.

Although it's really shiny and pretty, I think he was just feeling shy about what he was saying. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who shared his feelings often. Imprinting get to you I guess. Or was he this sweet with Rachel?

"You obviously haven't seen Bella and I's ride. Try to spot it now. Sticks out like a sore thumb around here." I motioned to the rest of the parking lot. I assumed he spotted it because he laughed a little.

"You don't sound sure. What're you thinking?" he asked. How did he know? Might as well say it. So, he could end things before he started anything he might regret.

"Did you break up with Rachel?" There. I said it. He paused, making my heart race might I mention. This boy was no good for my heart, I swear. I let out the air I'd been holding when he nodded and was able to breathe normally.

"Let's go?" he asked without looking at me.

"Uh, don't we have class?" His jaw clenched as if he'd realized something.

"You don't have to come. I'm being a bad influence, aren't I? I don't think I can control myself if I see that Chris guy again but you can stay if you want." he kicked a rock on the ground near his foot.

"I didn't say that. I just wanted to make sure you knew, being your first day here and all. Pretty crazy first day though, huh?" I joked as I got on behind him. He laughed before putting his helmet on. He gave me one as well. It was red. How did he know my favorite color? Had he been stalking me?

Was he the serial killer?

Nah, he would've let Rachel do it then.

Unless he wanted to do it himself.

"Where are we going?" I yelled. He probably didn't hear me. I kind of recognized the place. I knew we were one the Rez but not exactly where. I thought it was maybe the beach but we had just passed the side road leading to it.

Oh my gosh. He's going to kill me. This whole imprinting on me thing was a joke.

He pulled off another road not too far from the one going to the beach.

I finally recognized the place as the Cliff's. Was he going to make me jump off?

Goodbye cruel world. I just want to say I love my sister and father and dog. And everyone on the Rez. Jacob included. Even Paul. Nikki and Cam as well. I'll miss everyone in Forks. At least I'll get to see my momma again.

"Gab? You alright?" Of course not. It's human instinct to be not okay before dying. Hasn't he heard of fight or flight? Maybe he has and he liked to see me suffer. Damn him.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you mad about Rachel again? I'm sorry, it won't happen again! Gab please!" My heart wasn't made of stone. Even if he was about to kill me, my feelings ran deep.

"Why are we here?" I wasn't so rude to outright ask if he was going to kill me. So, I played it smooth.

"I couldn't think of anywhere else to go that we wouldn't get in trouble for cutting classes." I was smooth but he was smoother.

"I should text Bella so she won't worry. And Nikki and Cameron." To say my finally goodbye. He nodded in agreement.

'Bells, I'll get a ride home from school later. See you at home.'

'Nik, Cam, I'm at the cliffs with Paul. Didn't feel like going to class. You know why. I'll explain tomorrow.' If I was alive, that is. At least they'd know where to find the body now.

Paul took my hand and led me towards the edge. This was it, I thought.

Just as I began to say my prayers, he sat down on the ledge. Didn't see that coming. I never do with this guy.

"I don't know how to swim." Not that it would matter if I hit my head on one of the rocks. See, I told my dad swimming lesson would've been a waste of time.

"Really?" He laughed. I didn't see how that was comical. Learning to swim is a waste of time.

"Yeah. why?"

"Nothing. I could teach you sometime you know." I shook my head furiously. "Like now?". I felt myself freeze. He was taking of his shirt and pants. Leaving just a pair of shorts on. No wonder he felt so warm, all that clothing. Under clothing. Under clothing. How many layers is he wearing?

Then he jumped.

Oh, my fucking gosh, he jumped! Was that a suicide attempt? Maybe he thought I'd come after him. Ha-ha, nice try Mr. Serial Killer, you thought I'd -

And now, here I am falling after jumping off the cliff. I don't know why but my body seems to be drawn to him. So here I am screaming at the top of my lungs, flailing my arms around and kicking my legs cause that's I've seen swimmers do on tv, and I wasn't sure when I'd hit -

Splash! Water. Cold, cold water. I love that when I finally decide to get in the water is the day I didn't wear a wet suit. Wait, why is it getting warm? I should open my eyes. I looked to see Paul smiling with his arms around me. He then swam near the rocky side of the cliffs and held on. He then started laughing harder than I've ever seen him laugh.

"You. Should. Have. Seen. Your. Self. Fall" he said in between laughs, trying to stop himself at the same time. I didn't find it funny at all. I could have died by hitting my head, or drowning.

Just as he started to calm down, a wave came along and hit me right in the face. When it passed, I spit the water out from my mouth, all over Paul's face. He suddenly got serious.

"Gross. Better wash off." he grinned, which made me suspicious. I didn't have time to think of any insane ideas, because he dunked us both in the water. When we came up I was coughing out sea water I'd swallowed dramatically. I hadn't actually choked on any. He rolled his eyes.

* * *

Paul gave up trying to teach me to swim after about 20 minutes. I just couldn't float.

"You are never to go near any large body of water that has a depth beyond 3 and a half feet, without me. Got it?" he sounded somewhat frustrated. Wait, I'm 5'1 1/2" inches. That's almost two feet above three and a half. I think. Hey, cut me some slack, we all know I'm no good at math. I did my best to give Paul a dirty look and raise an eyebrow at him. He merely chuckled at me so it wasn't very effective. I decided to use my beautiful voice. And yes, I do enjoy that sound of my own voice. Jacob doesn't agree but he can go fall off a cliff. Like I just did.

"I'm a lot taller than three and a half feet, ya know." I said matter-of-factly, not forgetting to place a hand on my hip and attempt the raised eyebrow thing again. He didn't laugh this time. He kept his eyes looking somewhere in the distance. I followed his gaze just to make sure there wasn't some guy with a chainsaw out there.

"We can't be sure with your lack of swimming skills and the fact that you're easily distracted by your own thoughts may put you in danger in such a situation." Well, damn. Nice to know he really believes in me. I'm being sarcastic, by the way. I decided to not respond to his comment and just follow him on to his motorcycle. He kissed me but I stayed still like a statue and resisted kissing him back.

That's what you get, big fat bully!

* * *

I was ecstatic when I saw Jacob and Billy were over for dinner. With Harry Clearwater's special fish! I love fish, especially fish tacos. I now enjoyed them more because they could swim and I can't but look where it got them! Dead and yummy in my tummy! Ha-ha! I get the last laugh!

I introduced Paul to my dad, who gave a firm handshake and reminded him that he was chief of police and knew how to use a shotgun. Very well, he added.

After that awkward moment, they went in the living room to watch some football on the flat screen. I was in the kitchen using some of the fish to make fish tacos. Just as I was chopping cilantro, Paul came in and picked up my cellphone.

What. The. Hell?

He flipped on some music. As soon as I heard ' _Uh ohhh, J. dash',_ I recognized the song instantaneously. I resist the urge to dance.

I am not proud of my actions which have proven my weaknesses. I held until the chorus came on.

' _Wop, wop, wop.'_

My body moved on its own, I swear. My mind could not control it and eventually gave in. It gave a good fight and I was able to look at Paul angrily while my body began to move to the beat. But soon, I couldn't help but enjoy the song. Curse you J. Dash and your booty-shaking music!

I even sang along shamelessly at the next bridge.

"I made a lil bit of moneeeeey, I paid my bills!" I put the knife down and motioned my hands in a 'Come get it' fashion while shaking my hips and moving backwards. I did the wop when the chorus came again. Shamelessly. I'm hopeless.

The expression Paul had on was unreadable. It was like he thought it was funny but was turned on at the same time. Could he really be turned on by this? Well, then. I continued until the song finished. When it did, I resumed cooking. The silence in between songs is always awkward. Why does it take so long? Is there a setting on my phone somewhere to change that? If there wasn't I'm going to take whatever course in college that cellphone designers take and I shall event a cellphone that does. It'll have gold casing with rhinestones too. Yeeahh.

You know that thing where my hips and body react to the music before I even realize it? If you forgot, you're ADHD is worse than mine and you should seek medical help. I had just mentioned it. Anyways, it did that again as 'Loca' by Shakira came on. Really? In the span of less than four minutes, my body had done this twice.

It was funny because the song is about Shakira singing to another girl whose man left her for Shakira. Like me and Rachel. Is it bad that I find it funny? I think any girl would. I'm only human after all.

 _'El esta por mi, y por ti borro. (He's for me, and you're erased)Eso que tu tienes todo y yo ni un kiki (Even though you have it all and I have no money )_

 _Yo soy loca con mi tigre- (I'm crazy with my tiger)'_

Paul switched the song. Did he understand? Or did he not like the song? I hoped it was the latter. Because if he understood and it reminded him of what I was thinking, then he must've felt remorse? Why? Rachel's dad is a shifter and so is her brother. She'd understand eventually that I'm what the fates wanted. Maybe someone would imprint on her too. Rumors even said she'd already found someone at whatever college she went to. Did Paul know that? He must've loved her alot if he knew and didn't do anything. Should I ask if he knew? Did it even matter to him anymore?

I couldn't ponder on it because she-wolf came on and once again I began to shake my hips. It's just so catchy. Hey, she-wolf. Could I be considered one? I'll be sure to include it if I ever make a soundtrack of my life. This song was in english so Paul definitely understood. Even if it wasn't I knew he got it from the look on his face which had gone back to the odd kind-of want-to-laugh-but-it's-also-somehow-sexy expression from earlier.

Jacob came in, and didn't pay attention. He was used to this. He grabbed another beer which I hoped was for his or my dad because I don't want underage drinking under this roof!

My dad came in after and then it got awkward. Neither Paul nor I noticed him come in until he cleared his throat. I stopped dancing, Paul turned off the music and made his way back to the living room. He got a beer from the ref. before leaving. Damn these wild children. And why wasn't my dad, chief of police as he'd reminded Paul earlier, doing anything to stop them?

Damn them all.

And where was my loving sister and only other female companion in this house?

"Dad! Where's Bella?" He didn't answer. So, I said it again. And again. And again. I was about to say it again until he screamed that she was upstairs, probably annoyed by me interrupting. Serves them right. I happily made my way upstairs to Bella's room. When I got there, she was toying with an iPod that looked new and was attached to an equally new looking apple laptop.

"Gabz, check out what dad bought me." She motioned for me to come look at her new gadgets. Show-off. "Dad said to give you my CD player and desktop. I already put it on your desk. Who took you home? Rumor has it you and some big guy from the Rez got into an argument.". I don't know if she was trying to offend me that I always got her second-hand things but I was extremely offended. As annoyed as I was with the boys downstairs, I still didn't want to hurt dad by fighting with Bella or showing that I was envious. So, I focused on her last statement.

"Yeah that's Paul." Was all I could think of. I wasn't in the mood for girl talk and it was a little awkward with her. She's kind of manly sometimes. She makes the weirdest facial expressions too that get me distracted.

"Isn't that the kid that used to bully you?" her brows furrowing and mouth slightly ajar in the weird way… Okay Gabz, control yourself. Look at her forehead or something. Good work. Now, answer.

"Yeah, but he's been _nice_ since that get-together at the beach you didn't go to." I chose my words carefully. I'm not dumb enough to let the cat out of the bag, or wolf I guess, but I didn't want to say anything suspicious. Bella has this problem where she thinks she has to know everything. It could be a good thing at times, like in school, solving murder cases, or things of the sort. She had bought a book on the tribe's legends so I assumed she knew what Edward is but it's not her business to know what Paul and the others are. I hope Jacob wouldn't spill the beans. I don't which side she would take if it came to choosing one.

"Ah, I see. And… how do you feel?" she's almost as awkward as dad. Nikki and Cam make much better conversation. Even Jacob was better than this. But I think this is the kind of sisterly bonding we're supposed to have so I'll give it a shot.

"I like him. A lot I think. Even if we just started dating, if you could even call it that." That's kind of true I guess. It wasn't a lie. Just not the whole truth.

"I think I know what you mean. You've probably heard about Edward and I." More than she knew. I nodded anyways. "I'm going to his place tomorrow. To meet his family." I don't know if she noticed my eyes widen for a second. Oh well, she wouldn't expect that I was thinking she was crazy for agreeing to go into a house full of vampires. I guess I'd react that way too if she was going to a guy she just met's house all by herself. I'd probably come with her too. Ooh, good idea!

"I'll go with you. Bells, I'm sure he's a nice guy but I'd rather be sure nothing happens to you. I'll bring Paul too if it's alright. We won't interrupt." Well I'd try not to. Couldn't be sure with me and my big mouth. She paused for a moment before answering.

"Fine. I'll ask Edward later. Uh, I'll call him." For some reason, I got the feeling she wouldn't be calling. I'd been hearing weird sound coming from her room for a few nights, which was weird because I've always been a heavy sleeper until recently.

"Why not now? So, I could tell Paul. Great timing, he's downstairs right now watching football with dad." I challenged. She froze for a few seconds but then nodded reaching for her phone. Had I been tallying points between Bella and I's wins? If not, I'm starting now. One point for Gabz. Heck yes!

"Hey, Edward." My eyes didn't leave her face with its current almost humorous scrunched up manner. "I was wondering if it was cool to bring my sister and her boyfriend over tomorrow…". There was a long pause. Was Edward scared? Did he know who my boyfriend was? Well, he's not exactly my boyfriend yet but it's the most casual term for soul-mate I can think of. Boy toy is just a little… off. Does Edward know what Paul is? "Okay cool. We'll be there. I can't wait. Okay, bye. ". Bella speaks in such a monotonous way sometimes. It didn't quite fit with what she was saying. She said she can't wait but doesn't sound too excited. She wasn't like this before… I guess I'd better tell Paul what he was doing tomorrow.

* * *

"Hey, uh, dad. Billy" I nodded at Billy then looked back at my dad. "Could I talk to Paul for a sec? I wanted to show him something outside. For our… biology project. ". My dad looked at Paul.

"Hurry up, half-time is almost over." He smiled and smacked him lightly on the arm. Since when did they become all buddy-buddy? Did I miss something while I was upstairs? Paul smiled back then got up to come with me outside. I had definitely missed something.

"Your dad is great Gabz." He said before I could ask.

"'Course, he is. He's related to me." I pointed a thumb at myself. "Anyways, you might've guessed it's not a bio project. Um… you might not like what I'm about to say." He cocked and eyebrow at me. Why can't I do that? I looked up towards Bella's window. I pulled us farther towards the woods, just to make sure she wouldn't overhear anything. " But here goes nothing," I took a deep breath, "I told Bella we'd go with her to Edward's place tomorrow. To meet his family."

"No." Paul stated simply, not even pretending to think about it. "You know what they are and what we are. It can't be good to put us all in one place." I couldn't believe him. My vision began to take on a slightly red tone. I didn't even know that was possible.

"Yeah, I know all that. But that's the reason we have to go. Bella might get hurt! "I had to protect her. She is my only sister, not to mention it would kill my dad if anything happened to her. If it wasn't for the whole keeping supernatural creatures a secret thing, I'd tell on Paul to my dad and ruin whatever relationship they had built in the past 45 minutes.

"It's her choice to go with them. She knows what she's getting herself into." My vision turned a very dark bloody red in which I could barely make out Paul's outlined figure. So, this is what rage feels like. Coolio. Back to the situation at hand, I couldn't believe he was being such an inconsiderate ass!

"It doesn't matter what stupid shit she gets into. Sisters protect their sisters. If you don't want to go, fine, I'll go without you!" his eyes widened a little. Scared Paul? Good, I have you right where I want you. "And you can forget everything that happened today while you're at it. Then switch back schools and go back with Rachel. I bet if it was her sister or Jacob, you'd do it." A venom that I didn't know I possessed was in my voice as I said it.

"Baby, don't." I was not going to fall for the puppy dog eyes. No way. Gabz you're stronger than this. Do the forehead thing like with Bella. There. When did he even start calling me 'baby'?

"Mhm. Don't 'baby' me, mojo. I've made my decision, now make yours." Okay, so technically he was older than me and I don't really speak Spanish but it gave the dramatic edge I was going for.

"Gabby. Ugh, I can't believe I'm about to agree on this." Yes, my over-sized minion. Say it. "I'll go with you. But I'm staying outside." I'd figure out a way to lure him in. Some kind of delicious smelling pastry perhaps. "And let me remind you, that I can't do anything on their land. So, it'll be useless.". That hadn't occurred to me but being the genius, I am, I was able to think of something fast.

"You can grab Bella and run. I don't think I'd be able to lift her." He took a deep breathe then sighed loudly while exhaling, his hands were on his hips. He didn't say anything but he nodded.

Once again, I considered myself victorious.


	4. Chapter 3 point 25

**I went back and read my story and then watched Twilight. I skipped alooooot.**

 **So I'm going to go back and add parts in that I missed. Right in the middle of Chapter 3 is a huuuuge part I thought I'd included but didn't.**

 **Sorry (:**

 **So, this is after Paul comes to the school and they fell off cliff. And before Billy brings Harry's fried fish.**

 **OH. The good news is I passed my licensure exam. Officially a registered nurse! Ah!**

* * *

Paul brought me home before dinner that night. He offered to come in and meet my dad but it was too soon for me. Just the other day he was with Rachel and the crazy guy had switched schools, gotten me to ditch, had me hurling off cliffs, and kissing him. I had other guys try to kiss me but it had always been a quick peck. I was too nervous to let anything else happen with other guys. Usually my mind raced, but with Paul I just seemed to calm down. My overactive mind was just a little bit quieter whenever he was around.

Still much more overly active than the average human mind, I supposed but I'd take it. Anything that would make me a little less weird.

Oh, goodness. I am weird. Or so they say. Was it not normal to have such detailed, long, and slightly paranoid inner monologues?

Or did everyone do it and were too afraid to admit it?

Unless I invented some kind of machine where I we could read people's thoughts... the world will never know what "normal" thinking really is.

I woke up the next morning excited to see Paul after we'd gone cliff-diving and all.

Wait.

Cliff-diving.

Me.

Paul.

Imprint.

Shit. How would I act today? What would I even say to him? What if he got to know me and thought I was too weird? They said I could reject him... but did it work the other way around? A wolf reject his imprint.

I _would_ be the first rejected imprint. That was just my luck.

My stomach was queezy as I got out of bed and now I understood why they called it 'butterflies in your stomach'. That's exactly what it felt like and what I don't understand why in the world would anyone would _want_ to feel this way?

I did my usual morning routine of showering and finishing all the hot water before Bella or Charlie did, getting dressed into some outfit Nikki and Cam had gotten me to buy, and making a delicious breakfast. Today I made waffles and made smiley faces out of strawberries.

"Hey, Gabz. C'mon we're going to be late." Precisely Bella, just as I'd been aiming for. This way I'd have less time to make a fool out of myself in front of Paul. "Hurry or I'll leave without you." She threatened when I didn't respond, sitting on the couch, fully dressed and ready to go. She even went as far as to back out of the driveway before I ran out after her.

"Is there a reason in particular you don't want to go to school? A tall, handsome reason... named Paul?" She gave me a sly smile.

"How'd you know? It was literally just yeaterday."

"Oh, everyone's talking about it. It's kind of nice. They're starting to forget about me, the new girl." She said happily. Bella hated the attention she'd been getting. You couldn't really blame them, I think I was the last transfer student and that was three years ago.

"Not fair. I was already the new kid. Although, I didn't stick out as much as you... or get as much attention. I never really left Forks though. So, what is it everyone is saying?"

"Well... Paul's attracted a lot of female attention it seems." I felt a burning sensation in my chest at this information and I tried my best not to let it show but Bella was too busy driving to notice. "He's pretty much replaced Cullen in that sense. Everyone is talking about his motorcycle and how they saw you get on it and leave with him. And..." Bella trailed off, seeming even more unsure about the last piece of gossip she'd heard.

"And what, Bella?" I sighed, "Go ahead. I'd rather know than not. It might decrease the statistical likelihood of me making a fool of myself."

"Okay... but it's not true. You know how some of the girls at school can be." Oh, boy did I ever. She'd only been here a few weeks. What she had seen was only the tip of the iceberg for the bitches around here.

"Bells." I gave her a pointed look, "Out with it already."

"They wonder why he'd pick you of all people. And then people say it's because you were the only familiar face to him or somethig and that's why. They were much nastier about it though. They're just jealous, Gabz. It's not true... you are pretty. Paul's got great taste if he does like you and he's blind if he doesn't."

I blinked. I'd never seen Bella get so emotional about something. She talked in monotone most of them time. "Are you upset because they say that about you and Edward too or...?"

"Well, partially. You are my sister, Gabz. They're wrong and it's annoying." She was still pretty heated. It made me all warm nd fuzzy inside but i wasn't really sure how to react.

"Er. Thanks, Bells. That means a lot to me... and for the record, they're wrong about you too. You're gorgeous. I'd be more happy for you if Cullen wasn't..." Wasn't a vampire? Didn't want to suck your blood? How could I tell her and get her to take me seriously? She had seemed pretty freaked out about the whole he stopped a van with his bare hands fiasco... but was it enough? Would she listen to me and stay away or did Bella have to figure it out herself to have the sense to stay away?

"If Edward wasn't what?"

"If he just wasn't so _weird_..." I said, unable to think of a better word.

"Gabz. You're weird." She pointed out. Damn; she was right.

"Yeah, but it's a different weird okay?" I argued."There's just something off about him. An untrustworthy type of weird. I, on the other hand, are a completely harmless classification of weird."

"Okay. Fine. It doesn't matter. Last time we talked he said he shouldn't be my friend so I guess that's that." She said bitterly. I had to agree with Edward on that one. He could put her in serious danger.

Bella pulled into a parking spot quickly and sharply in a very unsafe fashion. Her grip on the steering wheel was tense. "Sorry."she apologized, noticing I'd been slammed into the seat from the acrupt turn.

"It's fine." I told her, now more focused on seeing if Paul was around. He was sitting on his motorcycle on the other side of the parking lot. There were a few senior girls standing around him. Bella said goodbye and was more foxused on watching the Cullens, who had parked on the very opposite side of the parking lot from Paul.

Interesting.

Not as interesting as the way my stomach churned. I had the butterfly flutters in my stomach but I also felt an acid feeling there as well whenever I looked at the girls giggling at him. My nervousness got the best of me and I hid in a position where I could just barely see them and was hidden behind a car. I wrestled between this anxiety and the anger I felt because of other females near him. It was an odd feeling, I had never really been the jealous type with Chris or the guys before him.

It was probably the imprint bond. I felt bad remembering my petty moves from yesterday, trying to flirt with Chris in front of Paul. Paul was hardly paying attention to the girls around him. He was doing his best to look around them without being too onvious.

Was he looking for me? Maybe he'd decided he didn't want to do this imprint thing after all and was looking for me so he could tell me. Maybe he—

All my thoughts stopped when a blonde girl flicked her hair over her shoulder for the millionth time and put a hand on him. The butterflies left and I felt the acid burn through my insides. It was like a reflex; I started marching over to wear Paul was. When I was about fifteen feet away, Paul's eyes lit up.

"Gabby!" He called, standing up and moving past the girls. He gave one an ofd look when she went as far as to step in front of him. "Hey." He smiled when there was only a few feet between us. He put his hands in his pockets and looked at me, waiting for my response.

"Hi." I wanted to say more. Ask him how he slept and if he got home okay... but I was afraid to open my mouth too much. The butterflies had reutnred so badly I felt they might fly out if I opened my mouth.

"Oh, hi, Gabz! Hey, do you and Paul like know each other from the reservation?" She looked hopeful, even more so when he first answered.

"Yeah. We've know each other a while..." he began, and I didn't stop my face from falling, making two of the other girls snort. "But as of yesterday, I think we're more than friends...?"

And that was when petty, theatrical, jealous Gabz took over. I am not proud of my actions.

"Of course! Silly!" I pinched his cheek, standing in my tip toes to reach. Paul raised an eyebrow at my unusually enthusiastic voice. "We had such a great time on the beach. We should do it again sometime." I was even bold enough to snake my left arm around his waist and leave my right hand on his chest. The girls were unable to hide their frowns any longer when he put an arm on my shoulder.

"Oh. I see. Well, we will see you later. Bye Paul." The blonde girl said sweetly, but her sweetness went sour when she looked at me. "Gabz." She gave me a challenging pook before she stalked off.

"Can't believe he likes her." I could hear one of them mutter.

"She's like, not even _captivating_."

The others seemed to agree but they were out if hearing range at that point so I couldn't make out their response.

"You okay?" Paul asked, a grin on his lips that made my stomach do summersaults. I felt my cheeks burn despite the cold weather. I could only give him a deer in the headlights look as I processed what I'd just done. Well, if he wasn't sure before he definitely wouldn't like me now.

 _Goodbye my almost lover_ , I began to sing the sad lyrics in my head, already planning which flavor I'd buy my tub of icecream in when I'd eat my feelings after being rejected by my imprint.

"Hey. You have to talk to me." He touched my chin lightly to make me look up at him. "I know the whole imrpint thing... it's weird. But I really want to make this work. We owe ourselves that much to at least try."

"Y-you do? Even after my little outburst?"

"That? Were you... jealous?" I nodded nervously and he flashed a smile, " I kind of liked it."

I gave him an 'are you crazy' look but was feeling a little more confident now. I still didn't want to linger on the topic. "Imprinting. Sam said it was genetic compatibility or something thought. Was it really enough to make you switch schools? ... for me?" It did add to my stress; would he figure out that I wasn't worth it?

"That's just his theory. Maybe it is but there's also the pull. You feel it, don't you?" Pull? Is that what he called it? Maybe pull, like gravity's pulling force when you fall off a fifty foot buidling and the gravitational force _pulls_ you to your imminent death.

That's what this anxiety felt like.

"I guess I do... but I'm afraid to disappoint you." I said truthfully.

"Don't." He started, "Try not to worry so much. Just be you." That's _exactly_ what I was afraid of. "I... I thought I didn't want it at first... the whole imprint thing. But seeing you. I do want you... no, I need you. You don't have to worry. Switching here, I did it for myself... yes to meet you, but I had to give this," he gave me a quick peck on the lips, startling me but it only made him grin, "for me. So, if in the end it didn't work out... it was my decision not yours and I won't regret it. So just relax, we'll take it slow." His voice soothed me and slowed my overactice conscience. He leaned towards me as if to kiss me like he had yesterday but it was too much. I'd have to consult my friends before I got confident enough to feel like a good kisser.

Being the rational individual I am, I blurted out the first excuse that came to mind and dodged his lips. "We're late for biology." He stopped with a sigh, and settled for a kiss on my headache that still sent shivers down my spine the entire walk to our first class of the day.

It wasn't until we'd entered the class I remembered who else was in this class.

Edward Cullen.

"Okay, class! Today we have an exciting lesson." Normally, I'd be more excited but there was a vampire in the room currently having a stare to the death match with my shape-shifting wolf boyfriend. The class was just as unenthusiastic about Mr. Molina's 'exciting lesson', and more interested in what beef Edward and Paul had. Mr. Molina continued, not phazed in the least by everyone's disinterest. I didn't Edward's head snap to him moments before he spoke, "We'll be doing blood testing! I know it wasn't until later in the lesson plan but with recent events and attacks, the American red Cross is having a blood draw this weekend in Port Angeles so we'll be extra prepared by already knowing our blood types!"

Blood-typing.

With a vampire in the room.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

Edward looked just as bothered as I did. Paul narrowed his eyes, and we sat directly behind Edward. Surprisingly, he seemed glad. If the blood drove him crazy, and he bit someone, would Paul phase instinctively? He was already beginning to shake. I reached out to touch his hand nervously, it seemed to calm him yesterday. I stopped holding my breath when he relaxed under my touch so I kept it there.

"Easy, wolf-boy." I said in a low voice, earning a smirk from him. Edward glanced back at us. Good, I'd been trying to warn him.

As Mr. Molina began giving us instructions, I noticed Bella getting clammy and looking paler than normal. When Mr. Molina notices Bella, he stopped mid-sentence. "Are you alright, Bella?"

"Yeah, uh, I already know my blood type." She said in a shaky voice.

"Will someone please take her to the nurse?"

Several guys stood up to be her knight in shining armor but Edward, being the closest, beat them. Boys. Typical. "I'll take her." Edward said, not bothering to hide the urgency in his tone.

The teacher looked at each guy then at me as if asking me to pick. "Yeah. Edward. You should go." My response came out harsh and the classes were all giving me curious looks. "Hurry! She's turning green. I don't want to get vommitted on."

Edward nodded and picked her up bridal style, probably wanting to get out quickly and not risk getting exposed. Beside everyone's excitement about what went down in Biology, the rest of classes went fairly normal. I was an AB blood type, only further confirrming he fact that I was unusual.

"You didn't tell me you had classes with one of them." Paul said in a low voice as he was walking me to my next class, which we didn't have together.

"You didn't ask..." I gave him a guilty smile.

He didn't look amused. "Do you have any other classes with _them_?"

I had to think about it at first. "No. Just biology."

"Good. See you in History." He gave me a kiss again, making me blush but he didn't seem to notice. He walked away quickly as if looking for someone.

* * *

At lunch, Paul and I sat at a table outside despite the cold to avoid hearing on the whispers.

I wasn't really sure what to say to Paul first, so I figured YOLO, and said whatever was on my mind. He seemed content to just look at me but it made me self-conscious. "Paul. That's a nice name. That's my favorite apostle."

"I didn't realize you were the religious type." He seemed surprised but not entirely turned off by the topic I'd chosen. Better than I'd expected so I couldn't really complain.

"I'm not really... But Charlie invested in me going to the classes at the church because he thought it was the right thing to do. I know all the stories but I guess I just have my doubts sometimes." I shrugged. I mean, what if there was no God?

"But you have a favorite apostle." He smiled but gave me a look as if I were a difficult puzzle he couldn't figure out. If he only knew.

The inner mechanisms of my mind are an enigma.

Focus, Gabz. "Yeah, well he keeps a positive mindset. Even after his leader and fellow apostles had been killed and he was landed in prison. He said, great now I'll have time to finish the letters he needed to write. He wrote four books of the bible while in prison. And when they told him they would kill him, he said there is no greater way to die than for a cause you believe in... I admire that."

"I didn't know that. Maybe I'll read some of his work. Your name is from the bible too, isn't it?"

"It's a feminine form of Gabriel. He's an arch angel who visits Mary and tells her she'll get pregnant."

"An angel. How fitting." He said and I would have that he qas trying to woo me but he seemed to be speakig more to himself than me.

"You _really_ don't know me that well." I'd always thought it was very unfitting. Although, Charlie used to call me 'angel' as a pet name. He says I saved him from his own personal lions' den. I thought I'd offended Paul the way he stiffened but he was no longer looking at me. He was very angrily glaring at something to thw right of mez I followed his gaze and knew immediately, he was glaring at the Cullens.

"Which one is which?" He asked, his voice was deep, almost like a growl.

"You mean their names? I think the short, freaky one is Alice. The blonde that looks like he's in pain is Jasper." He did look like he was suffering all the time, if he wasn't a vampire I'd feel bad and want to give him a hug or something. "The beautiful one is Rosalie and the beefy guy is Emmett. They're all in their senior year while Edward is a junior like Bella and I. They keep to themselves but everyone is interested because they're all so attractive."

He glanced back at me, still upset. Was he mad that I knew all their names? They'd only been everyone's favorite topic for the past three years.

"You think they're attractive?" He furrowed his eyebrows when I smiled.

"Well, they're aesthetically perfect I suppose but I'm not really into pale faces." He didn't seem satisfied by my answer. " I never really got why everyone was so obsessed. I thought it was because I'm just different but maybe it's because I sensed something off. "

I assumed my answer was good enough because he went back to watching them. They stared back at him, with expressions as if they'd smelled something extremely unpleasant.

Rude.

I was relieved when they went inside but I also spotted Bella sitting and talking with Edward. She looked upset, which was probably a good thing. Unless she aggravated him and he attacked her.

"That's your half sister, right? If she was smart, she'd stay away from him." Cullen looked over when he said that, and nodded as if agreeing. Could he hear theough glass? Could Paul hear through glass?

After we'd gone to the beach, I started seeing Quiluete legends in the search history on the computer. I assumed Bella was looking them up, which was perfect. She'd figure it out soon at this rate.

* * *

The next few days at school were sunny and as usual the Cullens were no where to be seen. I had never really questioned their excuse of going camping and outdoors whenever it was nice out but made sense now. Paul was visibly more relaxed. That is until I brought up talking to Chris.

"No." Was his immediate response, which upset me. It made me feel like a child.

"Really? I have to at least tell him I'm sorry. I won't tell him anything else." I felt really bad, not only did I leave him hanging one day but I came back the next with a boyfriend. To top it off, I'd completely forgotten about him until I'd seen him in P.E. I did have that class with him nd I could probably manage to talk to him without Paul finding out but i was trying to establish our relationship as an honest one. And it's like Michael Jackson said, I'm looking at the man in the mirror...

"Fine. We'll find him."

"Isn't it bad enough I left him at lunch one day then came back the next with you? The school gossip mill is probably having a field day with that one." I sighed at this realization.

"I don't give a fuck about his feelings." I was taken aback by his temper.

"You cared about Rachel's. Maybe you still do." He gave me a defeated look. I kind of hoped he'd say he didn't.

"Fine. Please, just do it in a public place. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"At lunch. They'll be inside. Just stay outside." I wasn't sure if Paul would be able to control himself. It wasn't worth it to expose the pack." He nodded in agreement but didn't say anything else. As we walked, I wondered if he was thinking about Rachel now that I'd brought her up.

When lunchtime came around, I swallowed my pride and made my way over to the table I used to sit at. Cameron aas welcoming but Nikki was just silent.

"Hey beautiful!" Cameron greeted, "How are you?" She gave me a quick hug.

"I should talk to Chris." I said in a low voice, "I want to say sorry."

"He was pretty hurt." She commented.

Nikki finally spoke, "Uh, try hella hurt. I mean you meet some guy one night and then you're together all of the sudden. You could have warned him. And not shown off your new boy around school. Gabz, do you even know this dude?"

"That's why I'm here to apologize." I said softly, already embarrassed. "I do. We went to school together on the rez..."

"Well, here's your chance. He's heading over here." Cameron warned. I turned to see she was right, Chris was walking toward us but hadn't seemed to notice me yet. He didn't look good. His beautiful face seemed more dull than usual, his eyes looked like he hadn't slept in a while, and he wasn't smiling as he talked with Tyler. His face was emotionless, that is, until he saw me. Then it was shocked and then angry. He stopped walking, causing Tyler to wonder what was going on. When Tyler spotted me, he gave me a dirty look, muttered something to Chris, and they began walking towards us again.

"What are you going here?" Tyler asked when they were close. The chattering in the cafeteria started to fade away. It made me nervous but I wasn't too bothered. If everyone heard maybe I could somehow salvage his reputation.

My voice came out smaller than I had hoped but I was pretty sure everyone was able to hear me. "I- I wanted to apologize to Chris... so if he and I could speak for a moment."

Tyler answered before Chris could, "If you have something to say to him, then say it now."

"No. It's fine." Chris's voice seemed hoarse. "Where?"

"Ey man, you don't have to deal with this..."

"Just over there at an empty table." I pointed to one in the corner farthest away from the windows close to wear Paul was sitting outside. I'd texted him that he didn't have to sit outside, and that he could go somewhere else to wait for me but he insisted on being somewhere where he could see us talk.

"Yeah. Let's talk then. Over there." Chris's expression was unreadable.

When we sat down at opposite sides of the table, I could see now that his eyes were bloodshot. I wondered if he'd been using something... he also smelled odd. It was something I'd never smelled before. We sat for a few moments, waiting for someone to speak first. I figured it would have to be me.

"Chris... I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened..." I started, and when he didn't respond I kept talking. "I should have told you sooner... it all just happened so fast."

He was silent for a good minute before he spoke. "So, we're done then. Just like that."

"We weren't really anything before, were we?" Technically, he'd never asked me out. We'd just flirted and spent a lot of time together. People had just assumed, I guess that we were. "I mean, you never really said anything about us being more than friends."

"It's my fault? Well, shit, I thought it was obvious." He said, in a more bitter tone he added, "I'm sorry I was a little preoccupied. You know it's just me providing for my grandma and brothers. I've taken up a job here on weekdays so I wouldn't have to..." he stopped himself and in a quietee voice continued, " _Sell_."

"I know you have a huge responsibility but I'm not a mind reader, Chris. You only had to say a few words. We talked all the time you could have said something." I wasn't really sure why I was arguing. To be honest, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Paul was my imprint and fighting it for a day was so difficult. I wouldn't have been able to avoid it even if Chris and I were official. In a way, I was kind of thankful that he hadn't because it would have made things even more complicated. At the same time, I'm only human and him not bothering me to ask me out officially hurt my ego.

"You were the only thing that took my mind off it all. I was trying to forget about my problems."

"I'm a person, Chris. Not a hobby."

His anger was starting to go away now, as ifbhe was realizing I was right. "What if I asked you now?"

My mouth opened to speak but no words came out. Get it together, Gabz. Paul was listening. I looked outside to find him, still sitting in the same spot as earlier but his fists were now clenched and he was staring intensely at me.

I didn't know what to say that would make them both happy. One of them would get hurt. I mean, Paul would end up with me anyway, so should I at least try to save some of Chris' pride? Or should I just be honest? Lying to make him feel better might end up hurting him more in the end. I couldn't lead him on, I decided.

Yes, honesty as the way to go. "Chris... it's too late."

"Too late? Gabz, you just met this guy."

"I love him, Chris." I said in a barely audible voice.

"And you don't love me?" I was glad his voice had lowered as well. People were looking now, trying to read our lips and I knew they couldn't hear us anymore. Well, Paul might be able to.

"I care for you, Chris... but please don't ask me to choose because I already have. I will always choose him."

Like I said; honest.

His expression was unreadable as he sat and stared at me. When he snapped out of his daze, he got up and slammed the chair into the table. He left the cafeteria quickly, and Tyler, Nikki, and Cam followed after him. Cameron nodded at me as if letting me know I did the right thing and they'd handle it from here.

I sighed a breath of relief and got up to head outside, aware of the stares I was recieving on the way.

Several people didn't even bother to whisper.

"Poor Chris."

"How could she?"

"What a slut."

I didn't say anything because in a way, I agreed.

When I got outside, Paul was alredy gone. I heard a wolf howling in the distance. Judging by the way no one was screaming, he hadn't turned into a giant wolf until he'd been deep in the forest where no one could see him.

I didn't want to be alone, and with Paul, Cam, and Nikki gone, Bella was the only person I could go to. She was sitting outside with Angela and Jessica who were lazily lounging in the sun light.

"We should go to Port Angeles before all the good dresses are gone." Jessica was saying when I got there.

"Hey, Gabz. You okay?" Bella asked. By the look on her face, I felt she'd seen me speak to Chris and both him and Chris leave angrily. Jessica's head snapped up and she gabe me a somewhat disgusted look. I only nodded at Bella. "Hey, why don't we go with you guys to Port Angeles? Do you mind, Jess?"

"No, she doesn't." Angela said quickly just as Jess was opening her mouth. She gave Angela a pointed look. "I need your guys' help finding the perfect dress." Angela added with a smile and not-so-subtle nudge to Jessica's arm.

As nice as Angela's gesture was, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go there on a weekend when I knew Chris worked in the area at that time. "Uh, that's really nice but I don—-"

Bella intervened before I could finish my sentence. "Great. We'll drive to your place and we can carpool."

* * *

"Port Angeles? That's where _he_ works." Days later, Paul was still upset, and Bella insisted I go with her and her friends.

"Bella isn't taking no for an answer. She's set on going to this book store to get a book on Quiluete legends." I sighed. If my sister planned on leaving the group, I didn't feel good about not being in the area to save her.

"She can't know about the pack. The secret has to be kept."

"I don't think she cares about that part of the legend." I said wearily. Paul gave me a confused look. "She's obsessed with finding out what Edward is."

Paul sighed, defeated once again by my awesome persuasion. Well, my persuasive skils weren't acually that great but I think Paul has a soft spot for me. In the entire week we'd been together he rarely said 'no' to me. "We'll go to Port Angeles as long on one condition."

"What condition?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Let me take you out for dinner."

That was it?

Ha! Joke's on him.

There would be foods.

He didn't have to tell me twice.

My stomach rumbled a little as I thought of all the foods places in Port Angeles. There was only one restaurant that was actually date-worthy. "Oh! How about that one italian place?"

" _Everyone_ goes there." He put a heavy emphasis on 'everyone'. "Let's go somewhere different." It was really the only somewhat fancy restaurant in the 200-mile radius. I'm not even exaggerating in the slightest. Port Angeles was almost 60 miles from Forks and Seattle was another 80 or so miles.

"Yeah, but we haven't done it _together_ yet. It's inevitable. We might as well get it over with." I said cheerfully.

"Fine." he grumbled, just before the bell rang to signal the end of fourth period and the beginning of lunch break.

"Besides, it's on the other side of town from the club where he DJ's." I thought out loud. Not a smart move, Paul tensed up even more.

"You've been there?" He asked, raising an eyebrows. I wasn't sure why he asked things he wouldn't like the answer to.

Honesty is best, Gabz. I had to tell myself as I looked at him and debated on whether I should tell him the truth that he wouldn't like or a little white lie that might make him feel better. I suppose I'd rather be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie... so I'd do the same for him.

"Yeah..." I said slowly, wondering if omitting the number of times my girls and I had been there illegally and without our parents' knowledge was still classified as lying. 'Don't ask how many times.' I chanted in my mind.

"Often?" Well, he didn't ask how many times. I didn't know exactly how many times but it had to be over a hundred. Let's see, almost every weekend for the past two years... how many was that?

"Uh, I guess so?" I laughed nervously and tried to put a smile on my face. It made him look a bit less angry, but he was still not happy.

"And your dad was okay with this?" he frowned again.

"Uhh. He is blissfully unaware." There were no pictures of us either, I'd made sure of it. There was no way anyone had any evidence to prove we'd gone. We made sure to hide our faces with hats or sunglasses. Lots of people did it. I was glad now that I'd said no when Chris had asked me to come up and dance with him. Instead, I'd waited for his shift to be over and the next DJ to replace him, and he'd come down into the crowd to dance with me.

"Good, you aren't allowed there anymore." I wasn't really upset. I didn't want to go there anymore, it had gotten old. What I didn't like, was his bossy tone. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him. His face softened, "Please don't be stubborn about this. It's not only illegal because you're underage but it is dangerous. There are shady people in Port Angeles."

"Well, you can't just order me around. If you don't like it, let me know and I'll think about it. If you would have asked nicer, I would have told you I don't plan on it anyway. Don't speak to me like I'm a child or something."

He grinned, and I narrowed my eyes. "You are child sized."

"Har, har. Real original." I said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and pouted the entire way to the cafeteria which only made him laugh more.

Hilarious.

* * *

I rode with the girls to Port Angeles. Bella and I were mostly silent while Angela and Jess chattered excitedly about their dates and what kinds of dresses they wanted. I had tried inviting Cameron and Nicki to make things more bearable but they already had plans for the weekend. At a club that Paul and I had agreed I would no longer be going to. I told Cam and Nicki, it wasn't safe with the recent attacks but they didn't listen.

We pulled into a parking spot in front of a small dress boutique. It was full with dresses and had no customers. I figured everyone else was waiting until tomorrow to come. Jessica was right about being first by going on a Friday evening. I looked around to see if Paul was around but I didn't see his bike or truck anywhere so I followed in after the other three girls.

After trying on just about every dress in the store, Jess seemed decided on a fuschia v-neck one and Angela was between the lilac one with a criss-cross design she had on currently and a baby pink one she'd tried earlier.

"This one makes my boobs look nice." Jess was commenting when I came out of the dressing room. The three girls' jaws dropped when they noiced me in the red dress I'd picked. After trying on dress after dress, I'd finally decide to try on a more fitting one because all the a-line dresses made me look wide because the didn't show the curve I had at the waist. The one I'd picked was red like all the ones I'd tried on, but this time it was a mermaid type fit made of a sleek thin fabric that hugged my body tightly. It had a halter neck and the back was merely a few crisscrossed strings that held the top on.

"Can you tie the back, Bells?" I asked and she got up to do so.

"Gabz, I didn't know you were hiding such curves! Paul is going to love it!" Angela said happily. It was sweet of her but I wasn't really sure if he'd be happy about this.

"Speak of the devil..." Jess said, peering out the window. Angela and Bella quickly pushed me back into the dressing room and untied the knot so I could change back into my black peplum top and fitting black pants. I also put on a bomber jacket made of a sheer see-through material that had red roses all over it. I'd put a little more effort into my wardrobe than usual and had even applied red lipstick and black eyeliner and mascara. I normally just wore mascara and chapstick so it was a big deal for me.

When I came out from behind the changing stalls curtains, Paul was sitting awkward on a chair inside the shop, staring at the floor. He was being polite still and answering Jessica's smalltalk but didn't look up until he heard me come out. The way his mouth hung open as he looked at me from my feet up, I could tell he was surprised.

"Hi." I smiled, blushing under his stare. I could see Angela getting giddy from behind Paul and Bella grinning. Jess was forcing a smile but I figured that was as much as I could expect from her. She was... competitive it seemed in all aspects of life. "We should get going. It's a bit of a walk."

Paul physically shook himself out of his trance, "Uh, yeah. I just walked it. I parked near the restaurant. Well, we'll see you three there?" They all nodded so we said a quick 'see you later' and left the litte shop, its bell ringing when we opened the door.

We walked in silence until Paul noticed me shivering. He took of his jacket and put it on my shoulder. He let his arm linger and stay wrapped around my shoulder. He gave me a cocky grin as if challenging me to say I didn't like it.

I most definitely did. "Won't you get cold?" He furrowed his eyebrows at me but kept smiling.

Oh, yeah. Werewolves didn't get cold.

As we walked, we passed a group of creepy bikers who were probably in college or older. They stared at us and Paul stared back fearlessly. He wore only a grey t-shirt and jeans now that his leather jacket was wrapped around me. He was bigger than most of them and they tried to act tough, giving me a few cat calls. I was suddenly glad my body was covered by his large jacket. Paul stopped in his tracks at the cat call and turned to give them a dark look.

"Paul." I tugged at his arm but he didn't budge. The creep that had made the noise was smiling now. He still made no advances but waited for Paul to do something. "They aren't worth our time." I pleaded, now that he was beginning to shake with anger. I knew Paul could take them all out and he might not need to phase to do so, but I didn't want to deal with it. When he made a move to step toward them, I panicked and threw myself into him. It surprised him as I had hoped but only for a moment. In desperate need of a better intervention, I pulled his face down to mine and crashed my lips into his. The anxiety of not wanting him to get in a fight with some stupid gang made me momentarily forget the fear of being a terrible kisser. I even let him go further than a simple peck and he took advantage of it, slipping in some tongue.

I heard the bikers say some kind of bitter remarks and then the engines of their bikes as they sped away. I broke the kiss out of breath. I searched his face, silently thanking myself for wearing the no budge lipstick Cameron has given me, when I noted that there weren't any streaks of red on him. He was smirking at me and stole another quick kiss.

"Oh, shut up." I blushed and tugged at his arm.

"I didn't say anything." he said, still smirking. I shot a glare over my shoulder as I pulled him along. "I'll keep talking though if it means you'll try stopping me again.". I didn't turn around so I could hide my face that now probably resembled a tomato.

It wasn't until I smelled food that I was able to temporarily forget about my embarassment.

It returned when we got to the table and Paul pulled the chair out for me to sit in. Still, it was warm so I took his jacket off and hung it on the chair, making his grin fade at the sight. My peplum top showed some cleavage because of the lacey see-through part on my chest. He looked down at it then looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. It wasn't that showy, and as I expected, the people in the rest of the restaurant continued. chattering. There might have been one or two males who glanced my way but it was nothing compared to the way our waitress smiled at Paul. She had the nerve to look me up and down as if sizing up her competition. Her smile returned when she looked to Paul as he ordered a large amount of food.

"What would you like, Gabby?" he looked up to me when he had finished his order. Was I going to be the stereotypical girl and order a salad here and just pig out once I got home? Or would I be the real me and order the pesto chicken?

Being real it was. "The pesto chicken and fettuccine." I told the waitress, handing her my menu. She looked scandalized that I would order anything but a salad with such a good-looking date.

"What was that about?" Paul asked. I waited for him to smile and indicate he was joking but he maintained a confused look. Was he really oblivious to her obvious flirting?

"You really don't know" I asked, but he shook his head. "She was trying to flirt with you and then she was amazed that I didn't order just a salad or something light."

"Oh. Why didn't you?" he ignored the fact that she'd been flirting entirely, and seeming genuinely curious as to why I didn't do what most girls would.

I shrugged. "I figured you should know about my appetite from the get go."

"I like it. You already know how much I eat."

"Yeah... have you always been like that or is it," I lowered my voice a little, "a pack thing?".

He thought about it for a moment. "I've always had a healthy appetite but it seems to have gotten worse since... the change. Emily always complains. Not just about me but all of us, as a group." Neither of us could hold back our grins at the thought of Emily nagging about the boys' feeding habits, but continuing to cook for them every meal anyway. "I may eat the most but the other guys' eat at home so she understands." he added quietly, fiddling with his napkin.

I thought about it and realized, Paul and Jacob were the only ones without mothers at home, but I'd heard his father wasn't like Bilky who actually took care of his son. Poor guy. Of all the guys, he was the one who did part-time work on the rez in addition to his patrols. He had to work to support himself and his sister.

He seemed to notice I'd gotten so quiet and could probably guess what was on my mind. I only got this way when we talked about his situation at home. I knew so little still from what he'd told me. He never said more than a few hints here and there and would quickly change the topic. He'd been so sweet today I decided to do it for him.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" You know, other than changing into a giant wolf and ripping vampires to pieces, I wanted to add.

He seemed surprised but caught on quickly. "I paint. Play sports. Nothing much." he shrugged.

"Nothing much? I can hardly draw stick figures." I said. It was sadly true but I didn't mind. It got him to smile again which made my heart flutter so I continued. "I am zero percent creative."

"You dance. That's creative, isn't it?"

"I guess. I'm more technical I think, than creative when it comes to most formsof dance. Some types of freestyle I can let go and just let my body move... but not when it comes to choreography. Nicki's amazing at choreography in any style. Cameron has the best jumps and is most graceful." I almost forgot he was there I had been so into what I'd been talking about. I could carry on a conversation with myself, and he was content just to listen.

I stopped and blushed when I realized he'd been watching me talk for at least two minutes continued to watch me even after I'd stopped talking, seeming to notice every small movement I made. He seemed like the type to notice every detail under a careful gaze and I felt I had more flaws than good feautures to be noticed.

"Hey, Gabz." I'd never been more grateful to hear Jessica's voice. The two girls ere giving us sly smiles as they stood next to our table.

"Want to sit down?" I offered. They looked excited but Angela seemed unsure. Paul didn't seem to mind but he did continue to watch me.

"Are you sure Gabz? We don't want to intrude or anything. We can wait for another table." she motioned towards the rest of the restaurant but it looked pretty jam packed.

"Sit down! I know you two are hungry. Wait, where's Bella?" In my eagerness to take Paul's attention off of me, I'd completely forgotten about my sister who was nowhere to be found.

"Bella went to get something from the bookstore, she said she'd meet us here. Hey, Jess," Angela looked to Jessica, who was already pulling up chairs for them, "maybe we should wait for her and get another table."

"I'm sure Bella will be hungry when she gets here. We should probably just order for her." she reasoned. Angela gave in and took the chair between Jess and I. I didn't miss Paul scooting his chair closer to me when Jess sat next to him. He was smooth about it and pretended to make more room for her chair. As they got seated, several waitresses came with our food.

"If you guys want any of our food, take it," I offered, "and we'll just order more." I gave a pointed look at Paul who'd looked visibly disappointed when I'd spoken. Angela and Jessica greatfully accepted some of the pizza and ravioli he'd ordered, leaving him with just his parmesan eggplants and lamb chop.

I made sure to order more ravioli for him when a waitress came by. He seemed satisfied by this and started to dig into his food like the other two already had. I started eating when I knew he wasn't watching. It really bugged me when people watched me eat. I was sure I was not attractive while eating. I wasn't sure if anyone did look good while eating; it made me uncomfortable to be watched so I didn't watch others do it. It just felt like good manners to me.

"Hey," Angela spoke when she had finished most of her meal and was probably starting to feel full, "Bella should have been here by now." she glanced at her watch then around the restaurant. We all looked up from our food and at each other. We were all too familiar eith my sister's knack for finding trouble.

"I should go find her." I said, now worried.

"I'll go with you." Angela volunteered. I could sense the same worry in her tone.

"I'll go." Paul said in a more final tone. "You three stay here. Would you ladies do me a favor and make sure my date doesn't wander off?" he said in a more lighthearted tone.

"Sure." Angela smiled, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

Jessica beamed at Paul, "Of course!". She seemed genuine, which was really great coming from her.

Paul thanked them quickly, winked at me, and stalked out already looking around, probably using his more sensitive hearing to listen for her.

"Oh my gosh. You two are so sweet." Angela squealed when he was out the door.

"He totally has it bad for you. He was just staring at you when we walked in." Jess seemed happy for me. I guess she was happy that Mike had finally asked her out for prom. She'd liked him for some long; we weren't even close and I'd kniwn that before Bella came to Forks High School. I knew she'd shown some interest in Edward, who'd totally ignored her. I couldn't really blame Jessica if she had difficulty trying to hide her envy for Bella. She'd gotten both guys to be interested in her in the few weeks she'd been here effortlessly while Jess had been trying for two years.

"I don't really see why me..." I shrugged. I did know why, but I couldn't tell them about the imprint. Other than that, I wasn't sure why someone like him would be interested in me so it was partially true.

"Aw, you're fun and cute, Gabz, why _wouldn't_ he?" Angela said. She was way too nice. I smiled appreciatively.

By the time, we'd all finished eating, neither Paul nor Bella were there yet. I asked the waitress for take-out boxes and bags to bring Paul's food. She seemed way to smug about him having left me on our date and me having to pay. I tipped 15% in tips instead of 20% because of her attitude.

Take _that_.

"Guys, we have to find them." I urged them.

"I hope they're both okay." Angel added nervously.

"They've been gone over an hour!" Jess complained as we were walking out of the restaurant but just in time, Bella walked up to the front of the restaurant.

"Where the hell were you?" Jessica demanded immediately. She stopped when she noticed Edward following after Bella.

Angela, as usual, tried to diffuse the tension that Jess created, "We waited for you but we were _really_ hungry."

"I'm sorry I kept Bella so long. We'd gotten to talking and lost track of time." he gave her a charming smile. I wondered if it was a vampire thing to be that charming. It definitely attracted girls like Jess and Bella like they were under a spell or something.

"Oh. It's fine." Jess said in a pleasant tone.

Edward didn't have the same effect on me. He smiled my way when I thought this, as if he could read my mind... then looked away quickly. Maybe vampires could read minds.

"Where is Paul?" I demanded, not allowing myself to get distracted by the mental skills Edward may or may not have. Edward pointe to the sidewalk at his right. I pushed past him and Bella to find Paul sitting on a bench with a pissed off look on his handsome face. He seemed to have blood on his knuckle and a bruise on his cheek. I knew the bruise wasn't there earlier but it looked as if were already in the healing stages, as if it had been there a few days already.

"What happened?" I asked, my expression softening when I looked at him.

Edward answered when Paul didn't, earning a glare from him. "The same gang," he spat angrily, "who were bothering you, tried to corner Bella. I was... in the area and found Bella just after Paul did. I made sure Bella was safe while he took care of _them_.". Edward was clecnhing his fists and Bella looked around awkwardly.

"Bella is lucky the two of you were there to save her." Jess said to break the silence, "We should be heading home. It's getting late."

"I could drop off Bella. I think she should get something to eat." Edward said just as they were heading towards the car. He was looking at me as he said it for some reason.

"Aw, that's so thoughtful." Angela cooed.

"Yeah, really thoughtful." Jess forced another smile, probably upset that Bella was getting the attention she'd wanted from Edward. I glanced back towards him and noticed he was looking from Bella to me.

Ah, Edward was hoping Paul and I would stay and wait for Bella. He nodded slightly and smiled when I thought , Mr. Freaky Mind Reader, read this.

There is no way in hell I'd even consider leaving my sister with a vampire.

I didn't really understand why he would want us to stay and guard him but I had a feeling I'd find out by the end of the night.

"Actually, Paul," Paul's head snapped towards mine, with an accusatory look,"didn't get to eat either." Angela was looking at me with wide eyes, motioning between Edward and Bella. Ah, she was telling me not to cock-block Ella from the current hottest and most mysterious guy at school. Got it. "We'll sit at a different table. Double dates are not my thing." This was a lie,"Especially with my sister. Talk about awkwaaard." Bella gave me an appreciative smile and Angela gave a not-so-subtle double thumbs up. She then hopped into the car that Jessica had already started.

"We'll meet you out here when she's done eating." Edward said politely and they went into the restaurant.

"Are we really going to play watch dog for your sister?" Paul asked wearily.

Hm. Watch dog. Interesting choice of words.

"Of course not, my wolfy-man. We're just going to finish our date. It was your one condition." I grinned. He raised an eyebrow but changed his mind when I held up the food I'd decided to take out and his stomach let out a rumble. He sighed and got up and immediately headed inside. I skipped merrily after him.

I did not choose the table right next to Bella and Edward.

I didn't have to. We sat at the opposite side of the restaurant, which was still within Paul's hearing range.

"Bella is asking for answers. Edward says, yes, no, to get to the other side, and 1.7 something. The square root of pi." I snorted. Edward was clever. "Eavesdropping on your sister's dinner with a leech wasn't exactly whatI had in mind for a date."

"You can have my breadstick."

Paul gave me an incredulous look but then gave in. "Fine. She wants to know if he followed her. The leech feels protective over her and he heard the disgusting things those guys had been thinking about her and..." he growled suddenly.

"What? And what?" I asked nervously and glanced toward them to make sure Bella hadn't become dinner.

"The things they were thinking about you." He added in a dangerously quiet voice, his fists clenching and nails digging into his palms.

Instinctively, I grabbed his hand and attempted to pull his fingers and loosen his grip. I knew physically I couldn't but I hoped my touch might calm him.

"I knew I shouldn't have let them go." He growled.

"You can't stop people from thinking those things... did they give you that bruise?" The bruise on his face was almost gone now. He nodded.

"You should've seen them." He finally loosened his grip and smiled, but it was cold. I glanced to Edward, who was also smiling the same. He could hear Paul as well it seemed... maybe more than just what he was saying out loud.

"So, how did he know where to find Bella?" I tried to change the subject.

Paul seemed to sense my discomfort. "He smelled me... but he won't tell your sister that. It's not his secret to tell... but he is telling Bella that he can hear people's thoughts." I knew it! I was surprised when Paul smirked. I gave him an inquisitive look. "He can read minds. Except for Bella's. He hears nothing from her mind... and she asks if she's weird."

Excellent. Just ignore the fact that he just told you he can read mind.

"Only Bella." I sighed, shaking my head, "You don't have to listen in for me anymore. Just let me know if they're going to leave." I smiled when he looked relieved. "You can eat now." I added. He did so, eagerly but still minding his manners and table etiquette.

"I don't want to talk about your sister anymore. You are always worrying about everyone else. Talk about you... or us." He said, pausing momentarily from his food.

"Does asking about how you feel about Bella dating Edward count as talking about us?"

"No. But I don't like it. I told him to stay away from you both." He continued before I could even ask why he cared about Bella seeing him, "She's your sister and as I predicted, you'll do everything to protect her. That's why I said to stay away from you both."

"I see. He tried, didn't he?"

"Not hard enough."

"She has to find out what he is for herself. She's hardheaded like that." I stopped when he snorted, "What?"

"Hardheaded... just like you."

"I resent that. Anyway, she has to ride home with him. She's relentless about figuring him out and this way, we'll be following right behind them. Okay. That was it. We'll talk about us now..." He gave me a look that told me he didn't believe me, think, Gabby, what to ask about him? "What's your favorite color?"

"Really? You're going to ask me about my favorite color?" I looked down, embarassed. "Grey."

I looked up at smiled. It was sweet that even though he thought I was being ridiculous, he still humored me with an answer just to make me feel better.

"That's not a real color." I smiled despite myself.

"White?" He offered.

"White? Your favorite color is the absence of color? That's still not a real color."

He shrugged. "What's your then?"

"Red."

"Oh. Me too." He smirked and I rolled my eyes. "Why did you switch schools? For high school." His gaze was now more intense.

"It was too far for Charlie to drive." I explained. He looked relieved. "What did you think was the reason?"

"Me." He avoided my eye by playing with his silverware.

He thought it was because of him. Because he'd bullied me. It made sense but the thoyght hadn't really ever crossed my mind.

"No. Why did you torment me though? Of all people?" I had always wondered if it was just because I was different or if I seemed weak.

"It was the only way you ever noticed me."

I'd never even considered the possibility that he was seeking my attention. I gave him a curious look.

"You couldn't guess? Isn't it what all little boys do when they have a crush?" He didn't look up at me but I could see him smirk.

"But... that was before the imprint. Why didn't you tell me? After six years of it?"

"They say I had a hard upbringing... that's where my temper comes from. I didn't really know how else to get your attention. Well, I did figure it out eventually but I was scared. When I finally found the courage... you had moved. I thought it was my fault... I stayed away from you after and even convinced myself that I liked tall and thin girls better... the exact opposite of you." He laughed to himself.

"So... it wasn't because I'm just weird?"

"Oh, it was. Maybe that's what I liked... different. I always knew it but I tried to deny it and fight the imprint. I felt guilty. That didn't last long though. I couldn't stay away from you..."

"Well, I forgive you." I smiled genuinely and he returned it, finally daring to peer up at me. But suddenly he sighed.

"They're paying the bill and about to leave." He called over the waitress and did thesame. Luckily, we had the same waitress and she was closer to us and took care of our first. We were already outside waiting by the time Bella and Edward were exiting the building.

"We'll follow your car on the way home." I said loudly, making Bella jump. She hadn't noticed us sitting on the bench. Paul and Edward were having a small glaring match/

"You don't have to d—" I cut Bella off with a look that dared her to continue. "Okay."

"See you there." Edward smiled and helped Bella into the car. When she was in, I was thinking anout how she would most definitely be figuring out what he was tonight. She'd find the book, do a google search... My train of thought was interrupted by Edward. "I really hope so. Maybe she'd finally stay away." He added with another smirk, as he walked around to the driver's side of the car.

Paul look from the car to me as it drove off. "What did he mean? What were you thinking?"

"That Bella would figure out what he is tonight."

We quickly made our way to his car, and found Edward had parked just ahead of it, waiting for us.

"Wouldn't most vampires not want to be followed?" I asked Paul once we'd started driving.

"The Cullens are... they call themselves vegetarians. They don't feed from humans. But he's having difficulty not feeding from Bella. I think her blood attracts him." he explained.

"Why Bella's blood?"

"Some humans smell better to certain vampires. The way he asks us to be there when they're together tells me he has trouble resisting her smell. A vampire as old as the Cullens shouldn't have that much trouble. I've heard it from Sam's thoughts. He tore up a lone vampire who liked the smell of Emily." I suddenly realized that I, much like ithers, had underestimated Paul's intelligence. Even if I had known everything he did about vampires, I wouldn't have been able to put two and two together so quickly.

I couldn't stop myself from wondering out loud. "Do I smell nice to you?"

He nodded and grinned. "You do. From the vanilla scented body wash you use to the baby powder fresh scent. And your natural scent as well..." he trailed off. His hand found mine in the seat and he laced his fingers in mine, giving it a kiss.

"Bella used my deodorant. Maybe that's what Edward can't resist." I smirked. He shook his head. Hm. I thought it smelled great. "It does smell nice though." He inhaled starting from my hand to my arm like a creep and started laughing.

"Ew. That reminds me of that guy from the Princess Bride." The one that is obsessed with smelling hair.

"From what?" I searched his face but his expression was clueless as he glanced at me quickly then watched the road as he drove.

"You haven't seen the Princess Bride?!" It was definitely one of my favorite movies.

"No, but you are my princess and hopefully someday my bride so..." he did the weird smelling thing to my hand again.

"Stop!" I laughed, pulling my hand away. "And that's cheesy... but if the crown fits." I shrugged, looking away now to hide the burning red color I knew my cheeks were.

"Well, you are."

I smiled. "Well, I guess it fits then and honey, you should _see_ me in a crown." I said the last part with attitude, closing my eyes and swaying my head side to side with each word.

Paul only rolled his eyes.

* * *

 **There you have it! Chapter 3.25 or Three and a Quarter.**

 **I was watching James Moriarty from Sherlock as I wrote this and had to include that last line. If you aren't familiar, you can look up 'James Moriarty Honey, you should see me in a crown' and you can see the clips. I wasn't sure how to describe but I loved it. (:**


	5. Chapter 4

**Okay, so I am including some of another chapter from the last story but I am re-doing some of this one and then the part with the baseball scene. Paul was too nice. (;**

* * *

Paul came over early the next morning. A few hours early in fact. I'd threatened him well. I could use this effect I had on him as an advantage. Mwahaha-

"Gabby?" Paul interrupted me mid-cackle.

"Ha-ha!" I blurted aloud. I hope he didn't make me explain myself. Diversion Gabz, quick! I threw myself into his arms and kissed him as passionately as I could in such an awkward situation. I think he fell for it because he didn't ask even after I broke away and jumped down. Yes, jumped down. He's gotta be like 7 feet tall.

"Good morning." He planted another kiss on my forehead. It sounds sweet and it really was, with all the effort he put into it. He had to bend his knees and everything, just to get down to my level. Being the jerk that I am, I didn't bother standing on my tippy toes to meet him half way.

"You're early." I stated, putting my hands in my pockets and rocking slightly.

"I asked to switch patrol with someone. So that I could be here. For you." Was he trying to guilt trip me? Wouldn't work buddy. This is for my sister. If what I was doing to Paul was wrong, my reason for doing it made it right. There's a word for that but I forgot it. Damn my small vocabulary. "Um, what do you usually do in the morning?"

"Feed my dog and pick up his poop, which I'm about to attempt to convince you to do for me." I squinted my eyes and smiled, trying to be cute.

"Feed it?" he asked. Ha-ha. Feed it. I shook my head slowly, maintaining my 'trying to be cute' look. He sighed and headed for the shovel and bag I'd motioned to with my hand. That was easy. Too easy. I hope he knew I would abuse my power and test its limits until it faltered. Not that I plan on telling him. He'll figure it out.

I skipped over to Koda's large bin of dog food, scooping out a very large dog bowl full then removing some to make room for the beef stew I'd prepared for him. He waited, with his tail wagging and drool dripping.

"Sit." I commanded. He followed. "Down. Good boy. Now stay." I held out one finger as I slowly put the bowl down then stood up. As much as it killed him, he didn't budge. I'd seen this in a movie and taught it to him. It was torture but he could handle it. The discipline is good for him. I guess you could call it 'tough love'. "Eat." Just as I said the word, he lunged for the bowl and devoured its contents. I was satisfied and began to look for Paul.

"All done baby?" I used the name he'd call me yesterday and fought the urge to attempt yet another wink. He nodded. He didn't smell good like he had when he'd arrived. I wonder what he uses and if I would get high off it if I bought it and sniffed it as much as I wanted to.

"You wanna take a shower? My dad already left and Bella should be done." I offered. He grinned. That can't be good.

"You stink too. You want to take one with me _, baby_?" he made sure to emphasize the word 'baby'. Oh, he's good. But it wouldn't be that easy.

" _Ai baby_ , you wish. I'll wait till you're done." I smirked and turned on my heel, expecting him to follow me inside and to the bathroom. Which he did. I gave him a towel and he didn't ask for any soap so I figured he'd brought some in his backpack. I like a man who's always prepared, I'll tell you that much.

When he came out smelling like whatever he used, I knew I was correct. I had to find out what it was. Did he always bring toiletries? Maybe that's what's always in his backpack, because the way it folds inward tells me there's no notebooks inside. Not to mention he's asked me for paper several times. Maybe I'll buy him a notebook. Would that be a nice gift? Or would he get offended and think I was trying to say he couldn't afford common school supplies? Only one way to find out, but I'll save it for another day.

I hopped in the shower after him and took my sweet time. When I was dressed and ready, Edward was already waiting downstairs. Bella was eating with Paul and they'd prepared a plate of food for me next to him. Bella wore a khaki skirt and deep plum blouse. Edward was also dressed semi-formally.  
I looked to Paul and noticed he was looking sexy in faded jeans, a semi-fit black shirt with a word or too in black letters, and a leather jacket. Come to think of it, I'd only seen him in jeans for the first time yesterday. Was he dressing up for me? How sweet. I wonder if he dressed up to go see Rachel. Stop it.

I decided to wear a short dress. I don't usually pay much attention to my clothes, well maybe a little, but I wanted to take Bella's special day seriously. Besides You can't look like a hobo in front of vampires. Especially ones inviting you for lunch.

My dress is black on the sides and navy blue in the middle, vertically, for a slimming effect. There are pieces of black fabric sewn at the hip level to emphasize the wearer's curve, not that I need it. It also has an oval-shaped opening in the back that ends at the lower back. Paul made me wear my black fitted blazer-like jacket over it. He said it'd be chilly, but I suspected he didn't like me showing skin. Either way it was thoughtful of him so I did as told. I topped off my outfit with black close-toed heels, hiding my ugly feet and making me five inches taller.

It was the cherry on top of the Sunday. I really out did myself today.

I waited until we were walking out of the house to put my heels on. I didn't feel like shuffling like an idiot around the house.

I hope Paul wouldn't be turned off by the fact that I don't know how to walk in heels. Or that I'm stupid enough to wear them when I don't. Or that I even bothered buying heels.

If he said anything, I'd defend myself. I'd have to learn somehow. I'm a girl, I can't live my life without wearing heels at least once or twice. Even Bella, the accident-prone trouble magnet, owned a pair of heels. Which she didn't wear today. Okay, well she's a decent height and her boyfriend isn't as tall as mine. Stop judging me!

Really. Arguing with myself? Or should I be more concerned that I was judging myself.

* * *

As soon as we got to their old white house that was in the middle of the woods, Edward got out and opened the door for Bella. Since Paul and I were in the backseat I could have followed him and exited through the same door he did but instead I waited for him to come around and open my door.

Which he didn't. I rolled the window down so only my eyes would be visible, staring at his back while he stared at the Cullen's house.

After a few minutes, he still didn't notice me so I cleared my throat. Very loudly. He jumped and turned around in one motion.

I was impressed but I made sure not to show it.

He looked at me with raised eyebrows. He didn't get it. I sighed and opened the door, slamming it, then shuffling as angrily as a girl could. I stood a few feet in front of him and crossed my arms and put all my weight on my right leg making my hip stick out to one side.

Bitch look. Success.

Edward cleared his throat in a polite fashion and nowhere near as loud as I had. Had he been holding the door open for a while now? I think I should've felt embarrassed but I didn't.

I shuffled inside with my chin held high. Even when I peered over my shoulder at Paul, I kept my chin up in a snobbish manner. When he just stood outside despite Edward inviting him in, I thought of a devious plan to coerce him into following.

"It's so warm in here." Ever so slowly I peeled off my jacket, one sleeve at a time. I hung the jacket on the Cullen's very intricately detailed wooden coat rack, who I would like to thank for inspiring said devious plan. I took one last glance at Paul, who didn't look like a happy camper, before stretching my arms. "Much better."

It was like magic. One moment he was outside, next moment he was behind me putting my jacket back on.

"Do you have a fever baby?" he put the back of his hand on my neck, "It's better if you just sweat it out. Get that bug outta your system.". I shrugged, and tried to control my smile.

I had won. Again.

I'd have to buy a coat rack for our house as a token of my gratitude to coat racks everywhere and in celebration of my victory.

Edward led us upstairs. Bella inquired about a cross or something. I wasn't paying much attention. I was determined to walk as gracefully as possible and not fall flat on my face.

"If you guys would be more comfortable taking your shoes off, you can put them here." Edward didn't mention my name but he was looking directly at me as he said it and pointed to a shoe rack.

What really bothered me was that their shoe rack was upstairs. Did they come through the window or something? And why had no one seen this? Sure, it's in the middle of the woods but don't people come hunting around here? Well, it's their land so maybe people don't.

Satisfied with the conclusion I'd made, I took my heels off and placed them on the shoe rack. Bella and Paul followed suit, most likely to hide the fact Edward had only offered because of my obvious struggle. Edward wasn't wearing shoes. I wondered for how long.

I'm going to watch his feet from now on.

Edward looked like a regular teenage boy bringing his girlfriend home for the first time. Maybe it was his first time. How cute.

Another thing that bugged me was that their kitchen was upstairs. It was the first time I'd seen it, and my OCD just didn't like it, making me anxious.

"Bella, we're making italiano for you." And just like that all my anxiety disappeared. I love Italian food! The lady, who Edward introduced as Esme, his "mom", seemed excited. It was almost human. It was really cute as well.

Bella said something in Italian and Esme replied. Where did she learn Italian? And why didn't I? Oh yeah, I chose Spanish. Sorry to all the Italian entities out there, Spanish is just really, really sexy. I like Italian too but Spanish just appeals to me more. I'm still proud of my heritage though.

I didn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation until the pretty blonde girl somehow broke a glass bowl. I jumped and Paul growled. Bella apologized, explaining how she knows they don't eat so she ate before coming. So, Bella had angered Blondie?

Esme was touched and said it was very considerate of her.

The blonde girl started ranting about the whole situation being dangerous for us all. Bella joked about it ending badly meant she would become the meal. The others chuckled politely.

I thought it was funny. Ha-ha, Bella made a funny. Her head snapped in my direction when I laughed too hard. She didn't look too happy with me. I didn't know why. I was just being supportive.

Before Bella could say anything, that weird spacy girl, Alice came from the tree. If vampires could do drugs, she had to be high like 99% of the time or something. She was too cheerful. All the time. She came in through the window too.

Aha! I knew it.

She came up to Bella and hugged her.

"Oh, you do smell good." I hoped she was referring to Bella's new floral scented deodorant or perfume. Her eyes went to me and Paul. "You," she pointed to me, "Not so much." She insulted me. While still sounding sweet about it. It was too sweet and gross, like a diabetic foot or something. I hated her already.

"Smells like wet dog shit." The blonde girl said, also looking at me and Paul. At least she wasn't faking being kind.

"Really? All I smell is dry _bitch."_

"Gabz!" Bella gasped.

I wasn't about to let anyone insult me. I didn't care if Bella would hate me. Blondie started it. I was taken aback though, when Blondie started laughing. She even clapped her hands as she laughed harder.

"I like her." She said pointing at me.

The fact that she found it comical and seemed to understand that I had the right to defend myself made me like her too. She was a lot like me. Except way beautifuller. Is that a word? If it isn't I'm making it one now because the situation calls for it.

I approached her and held out my hand. She took it and shook my hand in a very lady like way. I felt the urge to bow and kiss her hand, but fought it. The way she was looking at me, she might mistake it for flirting. Is she a lesbian or something? I could've sworn she was with the big guy.

I saw in the corner of my eye, a very angry looking Paul.

"Baby, _calmate_. (Calm down) You look ugly when you're mad." I patted his face. It didn't help, even with my attempt at Spanish, and possibly made things worse. He seemed to be struggling to calm himself. If he phased, it would not be good.

And so what if I was speaking Spanish to show Bella and Esme they weren't the only ones who could speak another language! They had to know.

Carlisle, and yes, everyone in Forks knows his name, introduced Jasper, who seemed to be in pain.

"It's okay Jasper, you won't hurt her." Alice reassured. Damn straight he wouldn't. He better not. I glared at him until Edward caught on and decided to show us the rest of the house. Paul was unhappy about it, and kept a grimace on his face but followed me upstairs.

As soon as we were in another room, going up yet another stair, Bella scolded me. But seriously how many stories was this place?

"Gabz, you promised you'd behave." She said in a low voice. Luckily Edward was there to defend me. Maybe he was an alright guy. Unless he killed my sister. Not alright.

"No, it's okay Bella. They started it. They promised to behave too. Rose seemed to like Gabz. And no Gabz, she's not a lesbian." Did he read my mind? What the hell. "Your face kind of says what you're thinking, Gabz. You make very… expressive faces." I looked to Bella, who nodded in agreement then to Paul who was suddenly fascinated in a painting on the wall. He was avoiding my gaze. Ha-ha, nice try Paul, I know you're not into art. "But I can't read your mind as clearly as others. Same with your dad.". Paul was suddenly interested in the conversation now.

"Oh, so you read minds. Cool. " I suddenly felt self-conscious about my odd thoughts. Trying not to think anything weird only made me do so more, including a naked Paul and his winky being much larger than the one in my textbook. The cringe on Edward's face told me he'd read that. I hoped he wasn't like bi or gay because he's gorgeous and could possibly turn Paul gay too using his vampire powers and whatnot. He made an offended face so he probably read that thought, but he didn't acknowledge it.

"I'm not sure if you're thoughts are not clear because I just can't pick it up, like a signal on a radio, or if they're too fast for me to read. It's probably the first though. I can't read Bella's mind at all so it's possibly something in your family."

"Or there's nothing going on in her head. Or she's got something wrong with her in the head." Making me mentally challenged too. It'd make sense.

Bella rolled her eyes at me. I hoped I wasn't ruining this for her. I'll just shut up.

At that thought, Edward chuckled. Stay out of my head jerk. Ever heard of privacy? Jeez. What a creeper.

"Graduation caps?" Bella asked while pointing at a large frame with many different colored graduation hats on it. Because he's a vampire. And they keep going back to high school and graduating. Ahaha. I get it.

"Yeah… it's kind of an inside joke we have." Edward is weird. A different kind then me. I like to think my weirdness is cuter. His is kind of creepy. He seems nervous. He led us up to his room.

Now normally I'd suspect him of plotting to kill me, bringing me to such a high secluded area, but Paul was here so I felt safe. There was no way they'd be plotting together. Ha. Werewolf and vampires getting along. That's a good one.

"No bed?" Oh Bella, you nasty little devil, you.

Edward smirked at me before explaining that he didn't sleep. I think he was trying to make the conversation less dirty. I approved. I didn't want to know about my sister's sexual life, however juicy it may or may not be.

There goes Edward with that look again. If he didn't like my thoughts he should stay out of them. I decided to leave the two love birds to do their possible dirty deeds, taking Paul by the hand and leading him back downstairs and outside. I'd seen enough to know Bella was probably safe and had to put Paul out of his misery.

"It's not what you're thinking Gabz!" Edward called out just before I started descending the first flight of stairs. I smiled at him in a way that said I didn't believe him.

"What were you thinking?" Paul asked as soon as we were outside. He took a deep breath as if he'd been holding his the entire time.

"You really don't want to know." He didn't ask again. He either figured it out or decided he didn't want to know.

I noticed something in the top of the trees. Is that Bella? It is. Is Edward crazy? Bella is an extremely accident-prone person. The type that would fall from a such a tall, tall tree. I ran after them, Paul catching up and getting ahead of me in no time. Stupid short legs. They finally stopped at one tree. I caught my breath for a moment in order to prepare my lungs to scream as loud as they could.

"BELLA? GET DOWN YOU'RE GOING TO FALL!" And die. I didn't say it because I don't like to be pessimistic. "EDWARD! YOU BETTER GET HER DOWN IN ONE PIECE. NOW!" he smiled at me. The ass. "PRONTO!" He didn't budge." CHOP CHOP MISTER!" He didn't even flinch. And he had the nerve to keep smiling at me. What a dick. "I'm going to climb up there!". They both laughed. Even Paul let out a chuckle.

He stopped when I gave him the death glare and he pretended to cough. 'Atta boy. I soon realized why they were laughing. The lowest branch on the tree was about 8 feet up.

Oh, _ha-ha_.

Laugh at the vertically challenged girl then.

One point for Edward.

* * *

The Cullens invited us to come play baseball today. I wasn't sure if Rosalie sincerely liked me or just wanted me to come and ruin Bella's day but Edward said she'd requested for me to come. Even if she's not a lesbian. Not that I have anything against that kind of thing. I think I'm borderline bisexual.

Forget I said that because I've put a lot of effort in keep that in the closet.

I agreed as long as Paul could come, which took a lot of convincing. He didn't want anything to do with the Cullens. I told him I'd go without him anyway, he finally agreed. Edward and his family are nice people but I'm not going with a bunch of people I just met in the middle of the woods. Especially with the approaching thunder storm I saw on the Weather Channel.

And so, what if I watch the Weather Channel. You would too if you were as scared of thunder as I am. Bella hates cold weather. I love it but both of us share a strong phobia for thunder. We used to hide together when we were younger.

Good times.

Did I mention Edward composed on song for Bella on the piano? I'm pretty sure I love Paul even if he doesn't play piano. But if he did, _and_ he made a song for me?

I'd make love to him right on top of that piano.

Bella really is a lot prettier than me.

But then again, who needs good looks when you have such a lovable and charismatic personality?

Am I right or, am I right.

Yesterday we ate at the Diner with dad and her guy friend, Mike, kept trying to get her attention. I can't say I was too envious though when he shook his ass like a wild man in front of our window. Has he no shame? I'm going to tell Edward.

Edward's starting to grow on me. Much to Paul's displeasure. It was like having another big brother figure, in addition to all the other ones I had on the reserve. He was different though, less protective and more open-minded, kind of like Jacob without the temper. So more like a twin brother. Except for the fact that he's dating my sister. That'd be weird.

My dad asked if Bella wanted to go join her friends. I choked on a French fry when an image of Bella, dancing in the same manner as Mike, came into my mind. Bella refused thankfully. My dad got frustrated and told her it was a Friday night and she should get out.

He never tells me to go out.

I guess he didn't need to. Well, before I'd met Paul that is. I'd bailed out on Nikki and Cam twice now. Port Angeles was no longer appealing to me. Maybe if Paul would agree to come along.

Dad commented that Mike seemed to be fond of Bella. Bella's response cracked me up.

"Yeah, he's a good buddy." The image of Bella dancing with Mike outside the window came into my thoughts. Bella doesn't joke often either, but when she does it's always a real couch kicker. I laughed, causing them both to look at me funny. I pretended to cough and continued to eat my burger. Bella doesn't share my positive outlook on life and sunny disposition. Neither does Dad. Neither do they seem to find the humor in everything like I do.

Was my mother this way? She had to have had a rebellious streak to get pregnant out of wedlock with a man not from the tribe. A man who already had a wife and child at the time. I like to think she loved my dad as much as he loves Renee. Like Renee loves her new husband. It's like a never-ending chain of love.

I don't think what you can go wrong with love. Therefore, they were all doing the right thing by going after the one they love.

Speaking of Renee, I overheard her and Bella talking on the phone last night. Some might say dad and I had been eavesdropping but I say we were just in the right place, at the right time; the time and place being right outside Bella's door as soon as we heard her cellphone ring. Everyone seemed to be asking Bella about the boys, including Renee. She suddenly said she had to go and I had this unusual feeling that Edward had arrived.

"Dad she said goodbye, she might come out. Go!" I said in a hushed tone and pushed him towards his room, so he wouldn't catch Edward's voice. Well, Edward would've felt our presence and made Bella stay quiet until we left but I made us leave sooner.

You are welcome, Bella.

I hoped she would do the same for me because Paul had decided he was going to stop by at the house before or after his late-night patrols. And on nights when he didn't have patrol.

"Hey baby." He said, climbing through my window scaring me half to death. I was so shocked I couldn't scream. It was a good thing at the time but if I ever get snuck up on by a serial killer, it will be a very bad thing. Paul interrupted my thoughts by giving me a big ol' bear hug, lifting me several inches off the floor and nearly cutting off my air supply. "Baby, why're you hotter than usual?" he put his hand on my neck and forehead.

"I've been dieting." I smiled slyly, knowing he was talking about my body temperature. He seemed to find it funny. But not for the same reason I did.

"You? Diet?" Oh, harhar Paul. "Seriously though." He put on a straight face and looked and me expectantly. I guess I'd have to give a serious answer before he got annoyed.

"We ran out of Children's Tylenol." I looked into the distance to emphasize what a tragedy it was.

"Why didn't you say anything? I'll get you some right now at the pharmacy." He almost jumped out the window but I held onto his arm to stop him. He turned to me with a questioning look.

"I don't feel feverish anymore. I think I'll just sleep on it." I really didn't. I was feeling pretty good actually seeing as Paul was in the room. "Why don't you spend the night?" I locked the door to make sure my dad would knock before coming in. "And wipe that smile off your face. I'm not ready for that. I just want you to rest because you have to kick ass at baseball tomorrow. Did you bring clothes?" He usually brought extra clothes because of the whole ripping his clothes and turning into a werewolf thing could happen if he couldn't control his temper. I didn't expect that he'd bring a few pairs...

"I won't be kicking ass at baseball tomorrow. I'm just going because you are. I am not playing with leeches." He growled and I sighed. As fun as I thought it might be, Paul didn't agree. It'd taken all his strength not to phase and attack the Cullens last time. He wasn't fond of Bella either because she was dating a vampire.

I didn't bother preparing my things and left it for last minute. I always do. I just don't feel I can pick out the right outfit until the morning of an event.

Paul slept only in his boxers, and changed right in front of me. I was not as bold as him and made him lie face-down on the bed with a pillow over his head, while I changed into my favorite silk pajamas. If the feel of these against his skin didn't get him to fall head over heels in love with me, I didn't know what would.

* * *

When we arrived, I realized quickly that Rosalie and I had dressed similarly. I wore a black long sleeve much like hers. I'd worn a dark red, almost maroon. My pants were the same white fitting baseball ones but they had a black line down them. I wore solid maroon socks and black shoes. My baseball cap was black with a red-outlined white letter 'S' on it.

'S' for Spartans of course.

"Well, well, well. Great minds really do think alike." Rosalie smiled. "What do you play? We're doing girls versus boys."

"I think it'd be best if I just pitch." I replied after a moment's pause. I'd debated whether I would tell the truth, and did so. If I hadn't I'd be forced to play and embarrass myself. I glanced at Paul who was leaning against a tree. I didn't think it was possible but looked even more unhappy now that I'd offered to play. He shook his head 'no' and I rolled my eyes, turned around and crossed my arms. He couldn't stop me.

"That makes four of us then." Rosalie said, her pretty eyebrows stitched together.

"I don't play." Bella added. Rosalie looked disgusted like Bella was a cockroach that wouldn't die.

"That's alright. We need a catcher. Jasper dear, would you come play on our team." Esme smiled. She was warm and motherly but for some reason they all followed anything she said. Something behind her eyes told me, there was another side of her that could be very frightening if you got on her bad side.

So, it was Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle against Alice, Rosalie, Esme, and Jasper.

I had a feeling Jasper was really good at baseball if Esme chose him.

I had no idea how right I was.

Rosalie bat first. I threw a straight ball but she missed. She swung higher than most players.

Bella called the strike. I would've kept my mouth shut if I was her.

I made sure to throw higher, right where I knew Rosalie swung. She almost hit a home run but Edward was too fast, getting her out right at fourth base.

"Come on babe, it's just a game." Emmett called.

Alice had good aim. Maybe she had a vision of how I would throw for her. She hit the first ball and ran fast. She stopped running at second base even though she could have made it to third. She played it safe.

Esme hit on the second. I adjusted my pitch to match her swing like I had with Rosalie's. She only tried for first base and Alice stayed at third. Emmett and Edward crashed into each other while trying to catch the ball.

Jasper was good but Edward was ready for him. Edward ran as soon as he hit the ball. He passed it to Emmett, who threw to Paul. He had been waiting for Alice at fourth base.

Alice was the third out so the teams switched.

I was warmed up by that time so I threw curve balls at the boys. I'd deny it if you said I was being biased.

Edward didn't hit hard enough and was too cocky about his speed. He was out at fourth. Serves him right. I laughed in his face but he wasn't a bad sport and chuckled a bit.

Emmett hit hard and Alice stopped at the end of the field.

Was it too far for her to chase?

Paul was suddenly at my side. "We're leaving." he commanded.

"What? Why?" I whined.

"There's more leeches." He spat. "Why the hell did you invite more of you?" He accused Edward. He was shaking.

"We didn't invite anyone." Edward argued. "Hide them.". Paul seemed reluctant but agreed.

The vampires all seemed to sense something and went running towards Bella. Paul picked me up and threw me over his shoulder on his way there. Edward wanted to leave but Carlisle said it was too late. He instructed Bella to put hers down. Mine was already down so maybe that's why he didn't tell me to. At least that's what I liked to believe.

Bella stood behind me, next to Edward. Paul stood in front of me and the rest made a semi-circle in front of him.

Three vampires appeared. A dark-skinned man with dreads, a blonde guy with a ponytail who could've passed for a John Smith from Pocahontas impersonator, and...

Drew Barrymore?

Okay not quite. She looked too mean and flawless to be Drew. Her nose bridge was skinnier and she was a lot paler.

Phew. I thought Charlie's Angels had replaced Lucy Lu with a Jamaican man and Cameron Diaz had gotten a sex change.

"I believe this belongs to you." The man in the dreads tossed the ball back to Carlisle, who thanked him. He then introduced himself as Laurent, the girl as Victoria, and Mr. Ponytail as James. James was a major creeper and had taken interest in my sister.

Yeah, accident-prone trouble magnet Bella, as always.

Carlisle introduced each one of us and said we were a family. Victoria was frowning at Paul.

How dare she come up in here and mean mug my man. Oh hell no. We can't have that. I was shaking in anger until Paul gave my hand a squeeze to calm me down. So, I'm that weak to his touch. I looked up to see his face, he was looking at me oddly.

Carlisle explained that their hunting had caused a bit of a problem. Psh. A bit. Paul's head snapped towards Carlisle. These were the vampires the wolves had been searching for. He began to shake more and more, breathing heavily, trying to calm himself but it wasn't working. He didn't phase but he lunged at the vampires but they jumped out of the way.

"Paul!" I cried out, there was three of them and just one of him. I didn't trust that the Cullens would pick a side. Paul jumped back towards me when I pushed past the Cullens. I looked him in the eyes, "Let them deal with it. Don't start anything." I whispered, "You can't phase m, Bella's here.". He nodded.

The three vampires seemed startled, they must have smelled that he was a wolf. Laurent seemed sincere in his apologies, something about them just passing through. He requested to play and Carlisle accepted. He said some of us were just leaving anyways, meaning Bella, Paul, and I. Just as they were heading to the outfield, the wind blew and they caught Bella's scent. James was especially interested.

He was tilting his head like a curious puppy. Except for that evil look in his eye that made the hairs on my arms stand. Creeper Creepy McCreep-Creep, I dubbed him. I could imagine myself doing so like the Queen of England, tapping a sword on both of his shoulders.

I wonder if I was the Queen of England in a past life.

If I was, I'd make sure to abuse the privilege of telling off anyone who sarcastically said 'Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England.'. I'd just be like, 'No. _I'm_ the Queen of England', leaving out the small insignificant detail that it was in a past life. Just as I was merrily daydreaming, the wanna-be John Smith spoke.

And yes, I'm assuming he did want to be John Smith because why the hell else would he style his hair in such a manner. Long hair was cool way back in like the 70's. The Quileute kids being and exception of course because it's a tradition we've had way before the 70's. I bet they stole the idea from us. It looks better on Jacob anyway.

I should tell him to tie it in a ponytail so he'd be like a Native American John Smith. Or even better, like John Smith and Pocahontas's lovechild, because I know that you and I both hate the other John guy from the second movie.

"Oh, look you brought a snack." He started towards Bella. Edward hissed, baring his fangs. Paul growled. James seemed even more amused. I wasn't surprised. I think I'll add to his newly given name.

Creeper Creepy McCreep-Creep Creepington, the Third, because I'm sure his dad and grandpa had the same creeper genes he carried.

"They even brought the dog. How sweet." She insulted _my_ man. I didn't think I could hate this rude Victoria lady more than I did at that moment. She sure proved me wrong. "And is this the doggie's toy?". I hope she didn't mean me. Or do I? Because if she meant Rachel, she had really crossed the line and was now either the delusional wife or sister of Sir Creepington, the Third.

I stopped walking and turned around slowly towards her. I was really shaking now. The world was now a red blur.

Paul held me in his arms which helped to calm me down. He was looking at my oddly, the way I was shaking. "Don't let her get to you." He whispered.

He was right. She was just trying to get me. Who the hell was she anyways? Some half-way dead girl who came into other people's territory acting like she owned the place? She didn't know me. And Paul was a big wolf, not a dog, that would rip her limb from limb if she kept at it.

Not in front of Bella though. She'd find out about the big secret and get scared and yeeeeah. It just would not be good.

Back to my previous rant, I am sure as shit not his toy! If anything, I _own_ that gorgeous wolf man!

When I tried to look back at her, Paul held my head to his chest to stop me. His hard, very muscular chest. And his scent. God, what is that magnificent smell? Is it his soap? Cologne? Deodorant?

Before I could contemplate a way to find out what he used, I was yet again flung over Paul's shoulder and he was running to the car. Err, jeep thingy. He wasn't very gentle when he threw me into the back seat, jumped in, and shut the door behind him.

Edward forced Bella into the front seat putting on her seatbelt in such a rush, Bella screamed at him.

Is it just me or is this kind of a bad moment to arguing about seatbelts? I guess I can't really say anything because I was thinking about Paul's chest and delectable scent during a vampire showdown.

He buckled on my seat belt too.

I was glad he did. Edward was driving like a madman who just escaped from an asylum. Bella wasn't helping by demanding to know what was going on. I thought it was pretty obvious that Creepington wanted to suck her blood but maybe it's because I'm just so smart. Or not.

Apparently, there was more to it. Creepington was a tracker Edward was explaining. Personally, I thought it was a swell match and a way to vent his creepiness. I'd be happy for him if he wasn't after my sister. Edward wanted to take her far away and hide her from him until he was able to kill Creepington. Bella refused to leave dad.

I agreed 100% with Edward.

"Turn around Edward." I demanded, "Bella has to lead him away from dad. Paul and I will stay. He'll watch over him and I'll make sure he doesn't get too hurt from Bella leaving." I next turned to Bella, "Bells, you have to promise me though," she nodded, "that you'll come straight back as soon as Creeper is dead.".

I knew it was just the name for him. Bella didn't need to ask who I meant. I concluded that it was common knowledge that he was the creepiest creature to walk the earth.

At the house, Bella showed her acting skills by faking a break-up with Edward and leaving. She repeated what Renee had said when she'd left our dad.

It was a low blow and I almost felt angry at her. Until I realized dad wouldn't have let her go any other way.

As soon as her car pulled away, dad ran outside and down the road in the direction they'd driven. Paul and I tailed behind him. I could feel my eyes getting wet and that odd feeling in my throat that you get when you stop yourself from crying.

When the car was out of sight, he got down on his knees. It was déjà vu. He'd done the same thing when Renee left.

This time though, he threw himself on the ground and sobbed. Something I'd never seen him do before.

My role model. The man who raised me and taught me everything I knew. The one who made me love life. My father. Bella and I's father. He was my very own superman.

Some might be embarrassed to have their parent crying in the middle of the road, like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

But I have a gift for seeing things as they truly are; and this, is the most touching thing in all of heaven and earth.

A father's love for his daughter.

I stopped trying to control my tears and let them fall.


	6. Chapter 5

**I added more to the movie scene and some more Embry and Quil because I'm watching New Moon and these parts are too funny! :D**

 **I like this prom scene so I'm keeping it. Perhaps more of the story as well and I'll cut out parts I didn't like.**

* * *

My dad didn't sleep that night. By morning he'd gone downstairs and was sitting on the dining table with his head down. Renee had called several times. In her final call to my dad, she said Bella was in the hospital, something about falling down stairs, and had made a request for us to come. Edward booked the flight for us, to make up for the whole thing he said. My dad was so happy that Bella wanted to see him, he didn't care and even let Paul come along.

Dad was overjoyed when Bella came home with us. He took a couple days off work, attempted cooking, and tried to clean the whole house. This meant a lot of work for me, because he wouldn't let Bella get out of bed, and I had to follow him around fixing everything. He forgot a lot of ingredients while cooking, forgot to tender up the meat, would have left it all to burn if I hadn't been watching, and walked all over the floor right after mopping.

It's the thought that counts though.

At the same time, Edward and I have been starting to plan diabolical things together. Alone we were good, together we were an unbeatable force. Edward thought things out to the very detail, and I was ballsy enough to go through with things. We both shared a wild imagination.

With all these things going on, I wasn't paying much attention to Paul. He continued coming over daily though. He would sit and watch baseball with my dad and Bella, while Edward and I took care of everything. Dad is protective of Bella and I but seemed to realize that we'd be with these guys whether he liked it or not. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, was probably what he was thinking. He spent time bonding over manly things with the two guys, like sports, cars, action movies, and whatnot. When I told Paul to take it easy on the food, he said we had too many left overs anyways and I should 'let Paul have at it'.

We have a microwave but don't use it. Dad, Bella, and I worry about the radiation and its effects on the body. We also can't stand the way food comes out scorching hot and burns you're tongue, with parts of food that are still cold, when microwaved. Most leftovers went bad at our house. But with Paul, we no longer had left overs and our dozens of Tupperware containers collected dust in our pantry.

Paul and Edward 'went home' at 8pm every night when my dad would kick them out. He would not tolerate co-ed sleepovers in his house. They drove away, parked in the nearby woods and came back through the window every time. Sometimes, Edward and I's planning went on into the late hours of the night. Paul was never interested, especially with Edward involved and always fell asleep on my bed. On nights when I was too tired from school and doing chores at home, I hit the hay as soon as I entered the room. Paul was always there but it was hard to bond when I was dead asleep. This caused us to argue often.

On a happier note, Edward and I's plan was to make Bella go to the prom. We figured a surprise attack was the best way to go. Although we're juniors, I used my connections through that Asian guy to get us in. I'd like to add that he loved the fortune cookies and origami kit I'd given him. I watched him open them from afar. He even offered to let Cam and Nikki in, but they already had dates from the senior year.

Bella had refused to go when Edward had first asked her, as expected. However, we were able to get her into a car wearing a hyacinth blue dress without her realizing what was going on. I could've sworn we'd need the pink leopard print fluffy handcuffs I'd bought. I brought duct tape too, that Edward didn't know about. We'd even gotten her to put a stiletto on, just one because Carlisle might've killed us if we attempted to remove the cast and make her wear the other one. Honestly, I was a little upset about the whole stiletto thing. I mean, what was Alice thinking, putting Bella in heels. She could barely walk safely in socks. Something we have in common. Well, I handle socks a little better but when it came to heels, we were just about the same level. I was close to leveling up though, with all the practice I'd been doing.

* * *

 **FLASHBACK**

"Gabz?" Bella rubbed her eyes as if she thought she were seeing things and then proceeded to raise an eyebrow at me, "Why are you mopping in stilettos?"

* * *

Back to Bella's dress, _it was softly frilly, apparently meant to be worn very low and off the shoulders, with long, draping sleeves that gathered at the wrists. The sheer bodice was girdled by another, paled-flowered, hyacinth fabric, that pleated together to form a thin ruffle down the left side. The flowered material was long in the back, but open in the front over several fitted layers of soft hyacinth ruffles, lightening in shade as they reached the tea-length bottom hem. (From Twilight Outtake, Extended Prom Remix)._

Mine was a bit more daring. It was a white tube-top with a triangular sweetheart neckline dress. Its bodice was fitted and made of thick white fabric strings in groups of about five or six crossing over one another in different diagonal directions. There were silver beads in two-inch diagonal lines, two on the top left and right and two near the smallest part of the waistline. There was a pentagon-shaped opening in the middle, and thick strings of white fabric with silver beads on the end in the center, somewhat covering the exposed skin. Beginning from the hip level, there were layers of a sheer see-though glittery fabric on top of a thin solid white one that covered the legs. A slit on the right side up to the top of the thigh let the wearer's right leg be seen. The matching heels were ivory and had thin horizontal straps starting from mid-calf all the way to the close toed tip.

Alice had done Bella's makeup while Rosalie took care of her hair and mine. I did my own make-up, something I'd managed to pick up in dance class. I emphasized my eyes with black eyeliner, mascara, and gold and silver eyeshadow. I put some rosy blush and deep red lipstick to complete my look.

Bella was angry when she realized where we were taking her. She protested that she'd break another leg but we eventually convinced her, mentioning that Rosalie, Alice, and I would all be attending. We met Paul at the school. He hadn't come so we could convince Bella that it was just an extremely formal fancy dinner for us girls we'd gotten all dressed up for. We guilt-tripped Bella into having a good time at the prom when she'd sat in the corner pouting the first five minutes.

My night was my favorite so far. That is until the very end. But in the beginning, I was able to keep all paranoid thoughts shut out for just one night. I'd seen Paul for the first time in a tux. It was a simple black one with a white shirt inside and dark silver tie but the look really worked on him. I you had told me before he'd imprinted, that Paul Lahote look good in a tux, I'd shower you in saliva from laughing so hard.

The best part was the look on his face when he'd first seen me. He'd mumbled that I looked beautiful but was never to wear anything like it again where anyone else could see, right in my ear so no one else would hear.

"You'll never see me in a tux again, I swear." Paul seemed a bit uncomfortable with everything. I think he forced himself to come just to make me happy and boy, did it work. I was possibly the happiest girl in the world at that moment. We had some of the drinks the seniors had somehow gotten in and danced. Paul was a good dancer, his body moved smoothly with the music. Who'd of guessed. I asked him where he learned but he refused to answer. I didn't ask more than once, no matter how much I was dying to know, because he got quiet and looked sad the first time I asked. It was only for a second and then he started twirling me around but it was enough to stop me from asking again. I hated seeing him sad.

Jacob came to see Bella and tell her to break up with Edward. Apparently, he was paid $20 and auto parts by Billy. I'd forgotten about him for a while so I couldn't be angry when he didn't pay much attention to me at first. I asked him to dance after he was done talking to Bella and he warmed up to me.

"I knew you couldn't just give me the cold shoulder and leave." I said triumphantly before he twirled me around.

"Yeah, your face is just too pitiful to stay mad at pipsqueak." Again, with the name-calling. "How's things with your anger-management problem boyfriend?" We both glanced at Paul, who didn't look happy about me with Jacob but he didn't do anything.

"Judging by the fact that he's not killing me for dancing with you, I'd say things are going good." The old Paul would've been very angry at me being so close to another guy, even Jacob. He loved me enough to control his anger and jealousy issues, apparently.

That is, until Chris asked me to dance. He'd come with Nikki, much to my surprise. It stung a little, not because I had strong feelings for Chris, but because Nikki would do something like that without even asking how I felt. I would've said it was fine but like I said, it's the thought that counts. Paul was dancing with Cameron, who was wearing her serious face she had when she was threatening someone. She'd find a way to warn him no matter what I did, so I figured a fun night like this would be the best time.

"Nikki and I are just friends. But I'm not going to try and steal you from your boyfriend. Just give me one last dance like we used to so I can have one last good memory this year. And for closure." Chris's face was more pitiful than mine. I'm a softie too so I gave in. I made sure to keep my distance while we danced but Chris went against his word at the last minute. I thought he was just leading me into a backbend. I love backbends. I closed my eyes and let my head hang back and my back stretch. Next thing I knew I felt lips on mine. I knew immediately it wasn't Paul just by the way it felt. They weren't as warm and it just felt wrong. Before I could react, Paul was there throwing Chris to the ground.

"We need to talk." He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me. We went in to a girl's bathroom on the other side of the school.

Was he going to kill me now?

He surprised me by kissing me roughly as soon as he shut the door, locking it behind him. Next, he began to lick all over my lips. I'd thought he didn't like my lipstick or something. When he stopped, I didn't have any lipstick left. Next, he spit into the sink. It was a lot and I would've been disgusted if it was anyone else but Paul.

"Now that I got some of his stink off you, what the fuck were you doing?" he was shaking and by the strained look on his face, he was putting a lot of effort into calming down and not changing into a wolf.

"I-I," I'm not a girl who stutters but I was still processing what had happened," He said it was just a dance. The last one, just for closure. It didn't mean anything to me. I was honestly hoping that him and Nikki were together. I'm not attracted to him at all and you know that."

"I don't know if I do." He breathed out in annoyance.

"Baby, I love you. Just you." His face softened a bit at the words, it was the first time I'd said I loved him out loud, "He kissed me out of nowhere. I would've slapped him if you hadn't gotten there so fast."

"Imma kill him." That would draw unwanted attention to the pack, for sure. It'd also be doing the opposite of what shape-shifter are meant to do which is protect the people.

"Baby, just let it go. The whole pack could get exposed if you did that. You might phase just by seeing him." I took his hand. He let me but he wouldn't look at me, "Let's just go home. I'm tired anyway. Jake could give us a ride to your place and we could get your car."

"You wait here, Jake and I will go." I didn't understand why. He never took me over to their house. I wonder if he'd brought Rachel over. Why not me? Was I not as important to him as he said? Even so, I nodded and didn't fight as he led me to the gym door. "I'll call Edward and Bella so you have someone with you." He went inside and shut the door behind him. He probably didn't want me to see Chris again.

He came out with Edward, Bella and Jacob. Jake said goodbye before running after Paul who'd walked past me as if I were invisible.

"Chris only came with Nikki to get you jealous. Nikki knows though and agrees you should be with him instead of Paul." Edward said after the sound of Jacob's big bike was long gone. He understood not to mention it in front of Paul. "Paul was imagining how he'd kill him, since you two left the gym. He had trouble controlling his temper." He laughed lightly. I forced a smile back even though Edward could probably tell I was uncomfortable with everything that had just happened. At least Paul hadn't been angry with me. I shuddered, thinking of Emily's scar.

That night, I did something I never thought I'd do. Paul and I had drank more alcohol in my room and we were pretty drunk so I think that's why. At least I was drunk. He didn't seem like it, now that I think about it. Maybe it's a wolf thing. I asked him to make love to me that night. We'd been making out and he'd even ripped my dress off. Said it smelled like Chris. I was a little sad, it'd been a gift from the Cullens and I'd planned to use it again as a wedding dress or something. Then again, Paul said he'd never wear a tux again. So maybe he didn't want to get married. That or he wanted to do something untraditional like a beach wedding in bathing suits.

If that was the case, I was all for it.

After ripping my dress, his eyes widened and he pushed me off him, probably harder than he meant to cause he pushed me right off the bed. He picked me up and put me back on the bed before quickly leaving via my window.

It might've been the Chris thing, so I let him go, falling asleep shortly after.

I woke up with a massive head ache the next day.

* * *

 **PAUL'S POV**

Gabby asked me to make love to her.

I couldn't do it.

I would've been her first, which is great I guess. Most guys would be elated and I was, in a way.  
But I was Rachel's first too.

Rachel and I texted sometimes. She said the reason she couldn't let me go was because I was her first. I felt guilty about it. She made sure of it. When she'd found out about me imprinting, the first thing she said is that she wouldn't find a guy who would love her 100% because I'd taken away a part of her that I couldn't give back. I almost didn't leave her. Until I realized she deserves better than a guy who was so obsessively in love with another girl. I wouldn't love her 100% either, I would always love Gabby more.

I do love Gabby, more with each day. However, I've known Rachel longer and whenever I have a problem, I text her. I don't usually tell Gabby my problems. I feel like I'd destroy her naïve happiness.  
I also couldn't take away her virginity. I didn't know if we'd last forever.

Not that I don't want that, it's definitely what I want most in life but someday, Gabby might not want me. Just like my mom didn't want my dad. They'd been in love once, they had to have been if they had me and my sister. In the end, she couldn't bear with him not even for her two young children.

If Gabby would someday decide that she didn't want me, I didn't want the lucky guy she ended up with to not love her 100% because I'd taken a piece of her. I don't think I could stand around and watch her with some other guy. I'd be too jealous. I didn't even like other guys looking at her.

I almost did what she said after ripping off her dress. The way she was sitting on top of me, in just a pair of nude boy short panties, it took everything I had to get out and leave. I swear, I had no idea that the dress had a built-in bra and she'd decided not to wear one. I'd have to scold her for that, it was way too easy to access.

I wish I could say I had good control and that's why I was able to stop myself from doing anything with her. I could even joke about it around her and maintain control.  
It was because I'd been doing it with other women. There was Rachel when she came for a visit. She knew all about Gabby and said she'd wait for me. I still didn't want to do anything with her since I still felt guilty about taking her virginity but she had a good point. I'd already taken it. What was the difference if I did it again? She said she needed a good fuck that only I could give anyway.  
With that, I was convinced.  
She even said she still loved me and would wait for when Gabby would leave me. I ignored what she said.  
Instead of cuddling like we used to right after, I left immediately after I'd quickly gotten dressed.  
I felt guilty the first time. I couldn't even help Gabby and Edward with their planning for prom, I was so guilty. But as I continued to rationalize my actions, it became easier.

Another girl was Alyssa. Don't know her last name, don't really care. She'd been after me for a while and had a big crush on me back when I'd first started dating Rachel. She was a wild child, despite the fact that her dad was some well-known politician in Forks. She'd first seen me at this very bar, and offered herself to me every time I'd come here. I'd refused because of the whole virgin thing. She disappeared for a while and when she came back she was different. Her whole demeanor had changed. I found out because she'd been fooling around with her boyfriend. But she still wanted me. So, I gave it to her.  
And I did several times, because Rachel was away and I'm a guy who has needs.  
I'd been coming since Rachel and I broke up. It was different because it was only to get out the horny feeling I'd been getting because of Gabby. Just so I could control myself around her.

Tonight, I needed it more than ever.

* * *

 **GABZ POV**

It was finally summer time. Time to enjoy. Paul and I spent most of our time at the Rez, exploring the land, spending time with pack, and of course going to the beach. It was a blast. Dad came along when he wasn't busy and sat with Billy and Harry, eating fish fry and drinking beer on the beach.

Teenagers like me played volleyball or football, buried each other in the sand, had relay races and all kinds of things. Others, not including me, went surfing and cliff diving. Much to my displeasure, Rachel stuck around. She went surfing and cliff-diving. Paul wouldn't let me try when my competitive side took over my phobia of drowning.

As much as he wanted to join them, he stuck by my side to make me feel better. Rachel watched us closely. Something about the way she smiled at me made me suspicious. I couldn't do or say anything because Billy and Jacob were around. I didn't want to ruin everyone's summer either.

Bella usually went to the Cullen's. Dad even let her sleep at their place since she was 18. He let me sleep on the Rez once. Jacob and Billy were there along with Samuel, Emily, Jared, Paul, Embry, Quil, Rachel, Leah, Seth, and the elders too. Most of the parents were there except my dad and Paul's dad. Paul's sister didn't come either. I'd never met her or Paul's dad. I don't know why and I didn't ask, because family is a personal thing. I wondered if he'd ever introduced Rachel to them. The thought made me shake in anger a little but Paul held me and I calmed down. When I noticed Rachel watching with a stern face, I gave Paul a few kisses on the face.

"I thought I told you not to wear this bathing suit." He said in a low voice, getting a towel from beside him and wrapping it around me. I had on a skimpy black bikini, which covered all the necessary parts but was still showy. I had on a see-through black swim cover that masked my uneven tan so I felt pretty confident in it.

Ever since that night at prom, I'd been trying to tempt my boyfriend. It seemed to work but he'd leave as soon as our making out got intense. It hurt my ego a little but I was mostly frustrated. I was almost 18 and my hormones had been on fire lately especially moments like now, when Paul was being more possessive than usual and giving me dark looks as his eyes looked at me from head to toe. It was a weekday so Charlie was at work and it was just us teenagers today.

"Want to come and help me take it off?" I suggested, batting my eyes at him. Paul shook his head but I could feel something hard pressing against my back like I usually did whenever we made out or I teased him. I was surprised at the control he had; it wasn't like him.

* * *

Edward and I's next devious plan involved Bella's Birthday Bash at the beginning of the school year. It would be at Edward's house. She'd wear a beautiful dress. Lots of gifts. Edward wanted it to be perfect. However, we knew Bella would be able to get angry at us. So, we blamed the whole dress idea on Alice, who designed it. We blamed the scrapbook on Renee because she was too far to feel Bella's wrath. The matching camera, from Charlie, who would in turn, put the blame on Renee. He didn't wrap the digital camera, just to be safe.

Bella apparently had a dream about being an old lady on her birthday so she was in a bad mood all day.

* * *

 **Wait, pause guys. I forgot to include this part in chapter 5. I remembered because I just re-watched New Moon. Gabz HAD to be in this scene.**

I had English with Bella and Edward but I really wished I didn't as I walked behind them. They were arguing because we all got to give Bella gifts for her birthday, including Jacob. Bella reminded him that she only wanted his loved... and to become a vampire, of course. Totally normal. We saw him in the parking lot in the morning, and he'd given Bella the dream catcher we'd spent two hours looking for.

"Jacob is just a friend. Something you're not too familiar with." Bella started. It seemed ickle Edward was jealous of my best friend. "It's some you don't want to kiss... or kill, but enjoy their company anyways."

"Like me!" I butted in.

"Not all the time." Edward commented.

"I hope you mean kill." I wrinkled my face in disgust.

"Of, course I do." Edward's expression mirrored mine. Ah, it was nice that we could banter about killing one another so civilly.

"Well, the feeling is mutual." I said snottily.

"Well, your 'friend'," Edward ignored me and went back to focusing on Jacob, "spent two hours trying to find the perfect dream catcher."

"If you don't like his thoughts don't read them." Edward glanced back at me, having seen the image in my head. I looked away and whistled innocently. Edward didn't bother dragging me into the conversation.

"It's hard not to. I just want to protect you..." when he saw Alice coming towards us, he added "From everything but my sister.". He rolled his eyes as Alice, yet another person but him got to give Bella a gift. I looked to Jasper, standing not ten feet away, controlling Bella's mood to ensure she'd say yes to the party and dress as I had so diabolically planned.

"I am so brilliant." I muttered when Bella agreed.

"Define ''brilliant'." Edward said playfully. I narrowed my eyes at him, feigning offense.

"How about, getting Bella a gift even though she said not to, for a start?" I teased and he gave up. Bella did catch on to Jasper but it was too late, she'd already agreed. I skipped along behind them on the rest of the way to English.

We were watching Romeo and Juliet. I know it's supposed to be romantic but I thought it was stupid. It was hard to pay attention either way with Edward and Bella quietly discussing suicide and how humans die so easily. Way to set the mood Edward.

He mentioned something about Romeo killing the love of his life out of sheer stupidity. I had a hunch he was subtlety trying to convince Bella she didn't need to become immortal. I was glad Paul wasn't in our class. He might actually agree with Edward for once and go on about being scared to hurt me because he loses his temper too easily and turns into a giant wolf.

Eventually the teacher noticed them, pausing the movie and asking Edward to repeat part of Romeo's lines. I snorted but of course Edward had the entire thing memorized; hypocrite. Bella watched him intently, probably turned on.

"Gross." I mumbled.

* * *

On the way home, Edward hinted at Emmett's gift by insulting the truck's radio. Low blow, buddy. I was going to say a witty comeback but Bella beat me to it.

"You want a nice stereo? Drive your own car." Edward pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. But me, I guffawed loudly. Paul, who had been stoic the entire time, almost smirked while covering my mouth with his large hand. Rude. The two continued with their argue/flirting the rest of the ride so I tuned them out.

* * *

"Did you watch the movie in English, today?" Paul asked and I groaned, not wanting to get back into the whole 'I might fuck up and kill you by accident argument.'

"Yeah. Hate that movie. Titanic is way better. And no, not just because the character's name is my middle name." I clarified before he could put in any snide remarks.

"Can't stand that Jack character." He said. I had perfected the raising an eyebrow to form a questioning face thing down, so I used it. "What? He's too careless and irresponsible. They make him so lucky though. But that's not real life. It's a bad message to the public." I didn't realize Paul could be so… deep. "He's a liar, too, if he says he didn't sleep with the girls he drew.". That caught me by surprise.

"Would you?" I asked. I kept my face straight to let him know I wasn't kidding around. Seriously, would he?

"I don't draw." He replied, his face stoic. What was _that_ supposed to mean? Bella and Edward had gotten quiet and were focused on the road ahead of us.

"Just sing?" I joked. Well, so much for being serious. He smacked my head playfully. I'd recently discovered Paul's hidden talent. He had a beautiful voice but he refused to sing. We'd only caught him singing to himself as he worked outside in the yard. In Spanish. It turns out his mom had come from a tribe from down south, and not only spoke her tribe's language but spoke Spanish. She'd left when Paul was 8 and that's as much as he would tell me about her.

* * *

I tried to get Paul to come with me to Bella's party at the Cullens but my puppy face just wouldn't work today. He was upset about me finding out he could sing. He was really embarrassed about it. If I had a voice like that, I wouldn't be but Paul has a self-esteem issue when it comes to his singing. He's a really weird guy. Sometimes he's full of himself, but with certain things, like the singing and my love for him, he's full of doubt.

"Paul, get up, let's go!" I was dressed and ready for Bella's Birthday Bash at the Cullen's and he was sitting on the couch watching baseball with my dad.

"Baby, I'm not much of a party type. Besides, the Mariners are my team! Jacob's on his way here to come watch." he smiled at me, daring me to say I needed him because I would be in a house full of vampires. Just because he knew I couldn't say it in front of Charlie. I rolled my eyes and went back upstairs to go tell Bella.

So, I didn't get to see the wonderful decorations I'd picked up. The fabulous cake I'd baked. No opening presents wrapped in silver paper that I'd picked out. Nope, here I was, still in my coral pink dress, grey cardigan, black leggings and boots, sitting on the couch with my arms crossed. I'd taken off the matching pink bonnet and thrown it on the floor, to show how pissed I was. Paul and Jacob found it funny and got a good laugh out of it.

"Har. Har." my emotionless voice was purely sarcasm.

* * *

Bella came home with a stitched-up arm. The sad part was, none of us were surprised. Jacob was angry though ang stormed off. Dad forced himself to react about it. His words showed concern but didn't match the calmness in his face. Sure, he was worried about her but Bella was in accidents so much he couldn't force himself to seem surprised. The next few days she seemed troubled and Edward was being distant, even with me. Then, finally, he left.

Bella, we found in the woods. Since I'd gotten to know Edward, I knew he wouldn't just leave her there. After spending hours with him planning things, I'd figured that he was in love with my sister. Or he was a really good actor. But even if he didn't love her, he just wasn't the kind of guy to put someone in danger like that. I was pretty sure Bella had chased after him and had gotten herself lost in the woods.

Charlie went crazy. So, did I. I wanted to go search with the others but he stopped me.

"No, Gabe. I've already lost Bella and can't handle not being able to find her. What if I lost you too?" I couldn't argue. The best way I could help him was just to stay safe. There was no way I'd be able to find her first either way. First of all, Samuel and friends knew the woods better than me. Second, they were bigger and faster than me. Third, they were freaking werewolves!

"Find her." I looked Paul straight in the eye. He nodded and jogged behind Samuel and Jared. I knew as soon as they were out of view, they'd phase and find her in no time.

It was early morning and extremely cold when they found Bella. I was relieved. My dad was too. He refused to let anyone help him carry her no matter how hard he struggled. Anyone but me. He didn't want me to at first. But it only took me one sentence to convince him.

"Dad, she's my sister." He finally let me help by support her upper body as we walked. It probably looked awkward but I didn't give a damn. That is until I noticed she was conscious. I almost dropped her from shock. How could she be so melodramatic to make dad suffer so much? She was awake, so she heard everyone calling for her. She couldn't even yell back something reassuring like 'I'm over here withering away in my depression on the forest floor. I'm alive though so don't worry.'. Any little sign that she was okay would've sufficed. Then she made everyone carry her around! If dad hadn't been standing right there I would've yelled at her. Love does things to people but it doesn't give her the right to just abuse everyone else just because some guy left her!

I ranted to Paul that night, just to let the steam out. He watched me pace back and forth with my hands behind my back as I rambled on and on about her being so self-centered. The only thing that could've stopped me is just what he did.

"I don't know, baby. I might be the same if I lost you." I was still angry and thought it was stupid but I couldn't keep yelling at him after that comment. I'm not made of stone, you know. Though I might have some in me. I laid down next to him and fell asleep with raging thoughts.

I was awoken by my sister's screams. I don't know if it was the sleep but I suddenly wasn't angry with Bella. I think that I was more worried about her well-being than angry at her selfish ways. I ran to her bed and shook her.

"Bells? It's alright, it's just a dream. Sleep now, you need to rest. Dad and I," I looked up to him standing next to me, "are right here. Nothing can hurt you anymore." I gave her hand a squeeze but she didn't respond. When she fell back to sleep, I went back to my room to find that Paul was gone. Usually he hid if my dad woke up or left his room. Maybe he thought I needed time with my family. I gathered my blankets and pillow and slept on the floor next to Bella's bed.

The next morning, Bella was still a zombie. She stayed this way for several months and it killed, watching over her took more time than I had taken with Edward and I's evil conspiracies. After school, she would sit in her room and stare blankly out the window. I walked in circles around her often. Sometimes I took videos, or made funny faces, or cracked jokes in attempt to make her smile. But she never faltered.

She was worse than those British guards, and that's saying something. I was so busy trying to distract her I had less Paul time than I'd had before.

Until one day, dad talked to her, suggesting she go out. She went with her so-called friend, that Jessica girl. We both knew that girl was jealous of Bella since day one and was not her true friend, but it was probably for dad so I didn't question her. Dad and I stayed home while she went out with Jessica even though I had a bad feeling about it.

"She'll be fine, Gab. She's just going shopping and watching a movie." my dad assured me as we dug into the meatloaf I'd made.

"Dad, Bella is a magnet for trouble. You should of let me go with her. And Jessica doesn't even like Bella. She talks too much." I complained.

"You talk too much." my dad laughed and got up to put his dishes in the sink. I sighed and got up to go wash the dishes.

As I'd expected, Bella almost died. Jessica brought her home, going on about how Bella had gotten on the back of some gang member's motorcycle like an adrenaline junkie.

Afterwards, dad suggested Jacob. I figured I could lend her my best friend, just to make things go back to normal.

Things didn't go back to normal. Bella started spending every day with Jacob and I was suspicious. She didn't pay much attention to him back when she had Edward. Didn't even give him the time of day when he came over for her birthday. It was one thing to try and be happy for dad, but using my best friend as a rebound? Hell no. I first complained to Paul who kept reminding me it was making my sister happy so I should be happy. When I kept complaining, he reacted in a way I never would have thought.

"Why the hell do you care Gabby? It's between them!" he snapped. I took a few seconds to grasp the situation at hand before retaliating.

"Jacob is my best friend, she can't just lead him on like that! It's wrong Paul!"

"He's a big boy. He knows what he's getting into! Bella makes him happy too. You never know, maybe they'd be good together." he shrugged.

I was livid. How could he not agree with me? "She's still obsessed with Edward! I wouldn't be surprised if she was using him in some weird way to get to Edward. He'll come back someday and she'll forget all about Jacob. He'll be crushed. I can't let them happen to my best friend!"

"Is he really _just_ your best friend? Or something more? " I couldn't believe what he was saying. Jacob had been my best friend since the beginning of time! He was being just as selfish as Bella, Jacob was his friend too.

"It's not even like that and you know it." I said coldly.

"Do I?" his words were colder than mine and could give someone a frostbite.

"Stop being so inconsiderate." I rolled my eyes and scrolled through my phone for Jacob's number.

"Am I being inconsiderate or is it you? All you've been doing lately is obsess over Jacob and Bella. I understood when it was your sister being depressed but now they're happy, why can't you pay attention to me for just a second? I'm tired of Jacob this and Jacob that. Maybe you should just go be with him." Before I could think of what to say, Paul jumped out of my window and ran to the forest.

Was I wrong for trying to take care of my best friend?

No. This is just what I do, I take care of everyone else. I took care of dad, then Bella. I took care of Paul when he needed me, which was almost never, and now Jacob needed me. Paul needed to get over himself.

'Jake, what're you up to? (=' I texted to my best friend. I waited but a reply didn't come. After about thirty minutes I texted him again. Okay, I resent the same message like twenty times but I wasn't trying to be annoying. The signal might've been not working so I was just doing the logical thing. After an hour, I couldn't wait any longer. I got in Bella's truck, which she'd left because Jacob came and picked her up. He must've not expected me to be there because he didn't wave. He didn't look back when I shouted at him from my window as he sped away. Hey, his engine is really loud and in addition he had his helmet on so he obviously could not hear me. I know if he had, he would've come up and asked me to come along.

When I arrived, Jacob and Bella were in his red barn, working on an almost finished motorcycle. I couldn't tell with all the parts scattered about. They were arguing about age. The way Bella grinned ticked me off.

"Hey Jay Jay!" I used my nickname for Jacob and tackled him into a big bear hug.

"Oh... hey midget." He ruffled my hair and smiled. See? He's still my best buddy. The look on Bella's face, which was as if she were really annoyed but trying to hide it, made me pretty happy. She'd never take my best friend from me. We go way back.

"What you guys doin'? I asked while looking at the big bike he'd been working on.

"We're fixing up some motorcycles I found." Jacob sounded nervous. Was he lying to me? "Err, actually we were just about done for the day and I was going to take Bella home. You can tag along if you'd like."

"Yo, Jake, what's up?" I heard Embry knock on the garage door.

"Oh, it's okay, it's just my boys." Jacob told Bella. "Hey guys, this is Bella. Bella, that's Quil and Embry."

"I'm Quil Ateara." Quil said smoothly, nodding at Bella.

"Hello everyone! I'm here too." I'm waved to get the three boys' attention. They were looking at Bella as if they'd never seen a female before. "Gross, Quil. You're my cousin and she's my sister. That's like incest. As in illegal." Quil picked up a dirty cloth and threw it on my head.

"So, the bike-building story is true, then?" he asked Bella. Embry was shier and didn't talk much when he was interested in a girl.

Bella nodded,"Oh, yeah, yeah, I taught him everything he knows." I snorted at her joke and she rolled her eyes at me.

"What about the part that you're his girlfriend?" Quil inquired smoothly. I choked on my spit as I gasped.

"Well, we're friends." Bella smiled nervously.

"Oooh! Burn!" Embry said, suddenly finding his voice. The three of us laughed as Jacob and Bella started blushing.

"Bella and Jacob? Who told you that?!" I asked once I'd recovered from my near-death experience of choking on my spit and doubling over in laughter afterwards.

"No, no. Actually, remember I said she's a girl and a friend." Jacob tried to save himself from his lies. Bella was behind him so she couldn't see the faces he was making at Quil and Embry.

"Embry, do you remember him making that distinction?"

"No. No, I don't Quil." I rolled my eyes at their pretend posh voices.

"So, you guys have girlfriends? Cool!" Bella said awkwardly, trying to divert the attention away from her and Jacob. Jacob snorted at her comment.

"Yeah, right." Embry said.

"Nerds." I commented.

"Whatever. Just because you have you have one of the hall monitors on steroids for a boyfriend, Gabz, you think you're cool?" Quil rebounded, referring to the our old nickname for Sam, Paul, and Jared. My face fell, remembering the argument Paul and I had just had. Jacob noticed right away, and tried to change the topic.

"Quil's actually taking his cousin to prom." Jacob laughed.

"Really? Which of our cousins are you taking Quil?" I joined in half-heartedly. These two had nothing on Jacob and I as a joined force.

"Oh, yeah that's still a riot. You want funny? I'll give you funny!" Quil lunged at Jacob and their play wrestling started.

"Boys will be boys." I sighed. Embry and I dodged getting hit by them

"I got five bucks on Quil." Embry offered. I took his hand and shook on it.

"Bella?" I gave her a nudge. She was staring with her jaw dropped at Jacob. She snapped out of whatever trance she was in.

"You're on. Five for Jacob." she joined in on our betting.

Embry ended up losing ten dollars. The two left together after a while and the three of us made our way to the truck.

"I think they like you. A little too much." Jacob said to Bella. I didn't want to get into that conversation so I walked ahead. They ended up gong back to Bella's age issues.

"Who's gonna drive the truck?" Bella asked to change the subject about her preoccupation with age issues. There was an awkward air between the three of us. Did Bella not want me to ride with them?

"Why don't we all just ride in the truck?" Jacob talked slowly as if putting much thought into what he was saying. This was new to me.

We all went in the truck, but they really just dropped me off. Bella offered to drop off Jake at his house. I wanted to come along too, but Bella said I should cook dinner. Jacob agreed, all that pizza couldn't be good for my dad, he'd said. How thoughtful of my bestest buddy to remind me of my dad's health. I did as told.

I texted Paul too but he was still being a butthole. Eh, maybe he'll come around tomorrow, I thought.

The next day, Bella and Jacob went to buy auto parts. I came along of course, to make things even more fun. It ended up being not so fun. Jacob had his full attention on Bella, whose jokes and topics were rather dry if I do say so myself. I would've considered it a bad day, if dad hadn't showed up for dinner and Billy hadn't made his delicious spaghetti. The Clearwaters came over. I had a blast, and completely forgot about Paul, who still hadn't contacted me. You would think I would be more concerned but I was busy cockblocking Bella. Seth helped my cause by asking Jacob questions and talking about his favorite things, making sure Jacob liked them too. The kid really looked up to him. Then again, how could he not? Jacob had this way of somehow projecting his happiness onto others and he was always fun to be around.

In the end, Jacob couldn't resist my awesome and we talked old memories and gossiped about people on the Rez. Bella sat in the corner and munched on a piece of garlic bread. She looked rather unhappy for someone eating such a delectable treat. I was enjoying it way too much.

* * *

The next few days, Jacob started coming over and doing homework. On days he didn't we all went hiking, looking for some spot Bella had found. We even watched a movie at the theater. Initially, Bella had invited her group of friends but when Cameron, Nikki, and I saw that she was talking to her friends we made our way over to their table and invited ourselves. Paul hadn't been coming to school and I wondered if he'd switched back to the high school on the rez. Chris had started sitting closer and closer to my end of the table now that Paul was gone but Cameron made sure he stayed away. She was Team Paul 100% while Nikki was in between.

All of Bella's friends ended up bailing except for Mike and Jacob. Bella and Mike were the only ones who were 18 and able to buy tickets so Bella went to get them while the rest of us waited. Mike and Jacob were eyeing one another. Nikki, Cameron, and I stood in between them, turning our heads to whoever was talking.

"You like action movies?" Jacob asked. We looked to him, then back to Mike for his response.

"Not really." Mike answered, looking away nervously. We turned back to Jacob.

"I heard it sucks. Really bad." I sensed what he was trying to do. He was trying to convince the Newton kid to leave. Apparently, Mike figured it out as well.

"Are you even old to see this movie?" Mike rebutted. I gave him a look that matched Jacob's. "I mean, like without adult supervision."

"Yeah, well. She's buying my ticket, so..." Jacob shrugged, less confident. I looked to Cameron and Nikki, seeing they had the same guilty smiles. We wanted to back my best friend but you had to admit, it was pretty funny. When Bella began talking the three of us cracked and laughed out loud.

We sat a row behind the three of them, in the three seats directly behind them with a large box of popcorn and large soda for each us. We weren't really watching the movie at all and were thoroughly entertained by the three. I wasn't really into action or gory movies, they tended to put me to sleep.

Bella sat in between the two guys. Both Jacob and Mike put an arm on their armrest closest to Bella,with their palms facing upward as if waiting for Bella to hold their hand. I stuffed a handful of popcorn in my mouth and chewed excitedly as Bella peered down at each of them. She crossed her arms instead, not wanting to hold either guys' hand. Eventually, Mike ran out and headed for the bathroom to throw up.

Weak.

This gave Jacob a chance to talk with Bella so the three of us went secret spy mode and hid as we listened to their conversation. Jacob was trying to convince Bella that she liked him but Bella was still unresponsive. I couldn't help but smile. The two of them together just felt wrong to me for some reason. It wasn't like Paul suggested. I did not have feelings for Jacob but I knew Bella hadn't moved on yet and he deserved better than that. Eventually, Mike decided to go home and the three of us left as well. The drive home was quiet and awkward.

* * *

There was one time Bella, Jacob, and I were driving in our truck when we saw Paul and I was reminded of how he hadn't been texting me. I pointed it out to Jacob and he looked at Paul, Samuel, Jared, and now Embry in disgust as they threw themselves of the highest part of the cliff. It reminded me of when Paul brought me there and gotten me to jump off. It gave me an odd, gnawing feeling in my chest, right where my heart would be.

Jacob was upset because Embry hadn't been hanging out with us anymore and had started hanging out with the pack. He didn't know yet about the phasing, but I had a feeling that he would soon the way Sam had been looking at him. Jacob knew Paul and I were having some bumps in our relationship and he seemed to know more than I did but he wouldn't tell me no matter how much I bugged him.

I texted Paul again that night. I'd started to get the feeling that Jacob and Bella didn't like me tagging along with them. They only had two bikes and didn't even let me ride. Jacob knows I love the rush of riding on a big bike. When poor little Bella, hit her head, they forgot all about me and left for the ER. I had to walk home because no one picked up. It was really far. I was tired and pretty pissed.

I'd texted dad and Jacob. No reply. They were busy with Bella. I texted Paul, begging that he'd feel a little bad for me because it was a really long walk. Not even one reply with an excuse for not being able to come to my rescue. I wondered if he'd gone back to Rachel. He'd gone way overboard with this whole Jacob thing.

By the time I'd gotten to the house, it was dark. I was so tired and frustrated that I was shaking. And my fever came back.

But honestly, people couldn't take just twenty minutes to come drop me off?

Before I knew it, I was shaking more violently than I ever have. I felt like the whole earth would shake with me, the waves of trembling coming off me so strong. Next, I felt pain. As if my skin was being ripped off and my bones were being stretched, four times their size. The pain was so severe, it had me on all four. Just as sudden as it began, it was gone. I pushed myself off the floor to stand up and reach for my phone, ready to call Billy or Samuel, anyone who would answer and help me.

I almost had a heart attack when I saw reaching for my phone as I did. I looked around, for some reason, my vision was really good and I could see everything in detail, like the water dripping off the faucet. I could hear the little droplets hit the sink in big booms, much too loud for such tiny drops. There was no dog or other creature in the kitchen. Was I going crazy or what?

My legs were sore from standing, probably because of my long walk, I thought. I had trouble just walking over to the couch. While reaching over for the remote, to turn on the TV and distract myself, I saw the dog paw yet again. I drew my hand back quickly. So, did the over-sized animal. It was playing games with me! Very funny! Just to make my day even better. When I reached out for the remote again, it hit me.

The paw was mine.

I ran to the mirror in the hallway and instead of my reflection, I saw a very large black and white husky. Wait, what the fuck? Isn't it supposed to be a wolf? Okay so the face and fur are definitely wolf, but why is my color like a freaking Oreo? It was a very dark black on top, much like a husky, completely with a 'devil's mask' you'd only see on a husky. The lower part, being my legs, chest and muzzle, were a bright spotless white that contrasted with the black fur along my back, head, tail and shoulders. There really was a black mask around my eyes.

I know for a fact that wolves do not come in this color.

However, my muzzle was much too long and tapered to be a husky. My piercing yellow eyes, were quite frightening. Definitely, not a dog. The way the fur on my face was, completed the wolfy traits that differentiated me from a dog. I attempted to lift my lips, wait, are they still called that on a wolf? Whatever they are, I lifted them into a snarl-like fashion and jumped when the wolf in the mirror did so. My teeth were much sharper and longer than a dogs would be.

Okay so I was definitely a wolf. With a Siberian-husky like color.

Was this some kind of go at my un-even tan?

Really? Did the spirits find this funny?

Is that even allowed?

It was my dirty little secret that although I'm quite light-skinner, I tan easily. Therefore, the skin normally covered by my shirts and shorts was quite a few shades lighter than those exposed. The area where I'm usually covered by a sports bra and underwear was even whiter.

Oh, ha ha. I bet whoever decided this was really getting a kick out of this.

Well, instead of fussing over what can't be changed, I decided to go find someone to help me. I didn't leave a note, because without plausible thumbs, it was quite impossible.


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I took out the lemon in this one because I didn't think I did it well and because I'm afraid some young whippersnappers will read it. If anyone wants it back up let me know and I'll post it somewhere separate. I mean it wasn't that great, I was just keeping in mind that it would of been her first time so it's pretty vanilla. I wrote the next one in Paul's POV so let me know if you would want to see that.**

 **I tried it because I figured ya freaks would were looking for that in something rated M but I guess I'm not as badass as I thought.**

* * *

I ran as fast as I could – which was really fast since I'd phased, all the way to the one place I knew I could be helped.

Samuel's house.

I knew I couldn't stay along the road in plain sight so I stuck to the woods. After a while, I got lost. I panicked, not knowing where I was or what to do. Luckily, I seemed to have some kind of instincts and began howling. Just a few seconds afterward, a howl was returned. It meant that help was coming my way. I was surprised at how fast the response was but I was glad.

How long would I be waiting here? Who would come for me? It wouldn't be Paul or Jacob, the two I would've depended on in the past. I would never be able to trust anyone the same way again. The pain and rage blended as one inside me, as I paced in circles. Paul was probably toasty warm in Rachel's bed, having forgotten all about me. Jacob had Bella now. Who had I been kidding, tagging along with him and Bella? I obviously wasn't wanted.

Now to top it all off, I'm a freaking wolf. Could my life get any better?

I hope you caught the sarcasm in that last statement. If not, please do face-palm yourself immediately.

Speaking of which, seeing who answered my call, made me want to face-palm.

It was a dark grey wolf I knew too well. I could tell him apart from everyone else in a pack of two-hundred wolves. I knew the way he walked, with his head hung a little lower as if untrusting to his environment. I knew the way his feet hit the ground a little harder as if he were stomping as he padded forward. I knew those yellow –

Eyes. As I looked directly into his eyes as if it was the first time I'd seen them, only one thing came into my mind. A story, or legend, which always actually seemed to end up being true, was all I could think of. Not one from the tribe but one my father told me, my favorite bedtime story in fact.

"Once upon a time, when the Gods and people existed together, people had four arms and four legs. They had two heads and two faces. They existed happily as they were, and grew more powerful as time went on. The Gods decided that the humans were getting too powerful, and needed to be put back into place somehow, so they cut the humans in half. Each human now only had two arms, two legs, one head and one face. They had to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half to make themselves whole again. It became the point of life."

As a spirit warrior, who was here to protect the tribe, I had to be my strongest. Imprinting made us find our other half so we would become so and be the best form of ourselves. In a way, we were lucky. We didn't have to spend our lives fighting to find our soul mate. But there was a catch; we'd have to give priority to the tribe. Although everyone wants to find their soul mate, the best part of doing so, is falling in love with them, not knowing whether that person is really the one. Sometimes, humans make a mistake, but it's that feeling of going head first into the unknown that makes love such a rush.

As a werewolf, I'd never get that rush, it seemed; because my other half, was standing right in front of me.

I have to admit; my soul did feel complete. It was like reading a good book but skipping to the very end, to know what happens. You love it, but it makes you wish you'd stuck it out and read everything in order because it would've made said ending that much better. Although, I was a bit disappointed, my feet seemed to move on their own. Heck, my body moved on its own. Closer and closer to Paul.

I felt all the anger from earlier fade, and my body slowly shrank back into its' human form. Paul's did the same. Whatever problems we'd had, temporarily disappeared. I ran into his arms and hugged him. It felt warm, and sticky. Like, that feeling you get when you fold your legs for too long, and the area behind your knee gets sweaty, which makes your thigh and calf stick together from the greasiness. Which only meant one thing. Flesh to flesh contact.

I'm naked. Hugging Paul. Who is also naked. It felt right but as the high from the finding-my-imprint situation started to melt away, I slowly started feeling uncomfortable. I could almost feel the rush of fast-paced pointless thoughts banging on my head, trying to break my inner calm the imprint had given me.

Okay. Now Gabz, you are naked and pressed up against a naked man who you are supposed to be very upset with. He hasn't contacted you in days.

Who the hell is this voice in my head all the time? Should I see a specialist about this overactive conscience of mine? You know what, no, I know how to handle these things. I've spent my whole life controlling this.

Well, I can't exactly say 'controlled' but I've gotten it down to an unharmful level and can ignore for several minutes at a time. Now breathe deeply Gabz. Focus. The voice was right. Now, confront Paul. I gave myself a little mental push from behind, as encouragement.

Where to start? How about with the most obvious and work into the little kinks? "Uhm. We're kind of naked."

"Yeah. The clothes rip when you phase." Paul held me but kept his distance by not letting his body touch mine anymore. I wanted it to though. My body inched closer.

Get a hold of yourself women! I don't care if he's your soul mate, he has to make the first moves. What are you, barbaric?

Okay. What next? First little issue. Actually, very big issues.

"Why haven't you contacted me?" I demanded.

"It's a bit hard to use a cellphone as a wolf. As you'll find." I wanted to slap the grin of his face. But I am a civilized woman and will not go down to that level. Right now.

"So, you're telling me that you've been a wolf this whole time? Well, you could've visited or dropped by y'know. We don't live _that_ far." I had to test him. Make sure he hadn't been with Rachel. I used the suspicious take-no-bullshit I'd practiced in the mirror during my alone time.

"I was so angry that I couldn't get back to human form. You think I'd put you in danger like that? I watched from a distance. You were always with _him_. And he…" Paul stopped. He was holding back on something. He was shaking in rage. Okay so I might've gone a little too far. Make it better Gabz! Go! Mental shove!

"That's really thoughtful of you."

That's _it_? That's all you can think of, Gabz?

Of course, not, just give me a sec geez.

Damn inner turmoil.

"I was always with him because you weren't around. I was stuck being third wheel to them, just to get my mind off you." Good one, Gabz. Make it about him. It's a little true. "But we're here now. Paul, I'm pretty sure I just imprinted on you." I smiled shyly.

If this were baseball, I would've made a homerun along with all my teammates on the bases.

Grand slam.

His eyes softened in a way I assumed Paul only could for me, well, considering how much of a jerk he'd been before the imprint. Before I could think more on it, his lips were on mine. Holding me close, no longer seeming to care about the whole no clothes thing. He even pulled away and looked me up and down. I couldn't help but feel self-conscious when he started laughing at me. Who wouldn't?

What a moment killer.

"So that's why your fur is that color." He breathed deeply, pursuing his lips then holding a fist over his mouth to stop himself from laughing again.

* * *

" _I know girl when you look at me,  
you don't know how I feel,  
I'm usually so nonchalant  
My feelings I conceal  
But I want you to know, oh I want you know  
I must admit I've felt this way for more than quite a while  
But I can't hold it no longer when I, see that pretty smile  
Can't wait no more  
Ooh, Girl,  
To tell you the truth  
it's always been you  
I'm all about you."  
-Paul to Gabz [All About You – Bruno Mars]_

* * *

"Yeah. Very funny. You're a real comedian, Paul." I said dryly. "If you don't like it you can go find some one-toned girl." Like Rachel, I thought to myself bitterly.

"No. It's not like that Gabz. I would care if you were green and rode on a broom." Was that a witch joke? So, what if I enjoyed Harry Potter. And those broom and green-skin stereotypes are _not_ true. Ass. "I love you no matter what you are." He took my hand and pulled me down with him onto the grassy forest floor. We lay down staring up, unable to see the stars through the dense trees. Everything was dark. "I think it's cute though. Like a panda." He grinned and I could see his bright white teeth in the dark. "Are you sure you imprinted on me Gabz?" I nodded. "What did you feel?" He asked. He didn't believe me.

"It felt as if I suddenly felt the world spinning on its axis and then it abruptly stopped. Corny as it sounds, it's like my world now revolves around you, instead of spinning on its axis like it had." I spoke slowly, trying hard to put into words what I'd felt. Describing the sensation took so much of my mind power that I didn't realize how humiliating it was until after I'd said it. I'd already embarrassed myself, so I decided to finish. "A story came to mind as well. One my dad used to tell me. My favorite bed-time story in fact."

"Tell me the story." His voice was almost demanding. The eagerness encouraged me to keep going. And I told him. He was quiet afterwards and so was I. It was one of those moments where words weren't necessary. Our hands were linked and fingers enlaced as we looked up at the dark forest above us. Paul was the first to speak. What he said honestly shocked me.

"I think I need to tell you something." I pinched myself and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Was he really about to open up to me? It's about damn time. I've been telling him everything going on in my mind, well just the normal thoughts. Don't judge me. You'd do the same if you had this problem. I bet I have some kind of undiscovered mental disorder.

"I want to tell you why I was so against imprinting... and why I was scared to give you my 100%." he sounded uncomfortable so I gave his hand a little squeeze, "You know how my mom left my dad, right?"

"I think our situations a little different." I was a bit excited.

"It is now. My dad imprinted on my mom." Didn't see that comin' I'll tell ya that much. "But she still left us. I guess my dad's a little... different but I've always felt that imprinting is overrated if she was able to leave him."

"Baby, I can't leave you, even if I hadn't imprinted on you too. I love you too much. And what do you mean your dad is different? I think all dads are a little weird." I turned onto my side to face him as I spoke.

"He just is. I don't know how to explain it." he seemed almost frustrated. Poor thing. Now this is where the self-esteem issues come from and what makes him a complete ass. All he needs is someone to be there for him. There is nothing I could want more than to be that someone.

"I want to meet your dad. And sister." I said bravely. I was disappointed by his response.

"Maybe another time baby." His face was turned away from me and we sat in silence yet again. It was an awkward silence and I was a little hurt by what he'd said, so I couldn't think of any good ice breakers.

I started to feel emotional and I wanted to cry, only more so when I felt my body trembling. Paul still didn't trust me 100% to let me meet his family and to top it all off, I was turning into a wolf and I didn't know how to stop it. I was sad and scared all at to wave off the feelings only reminded me more of them.

* * *

 _"Where are all those tears coming from?  
Why are they falling?  
Somebody, somebody, somebody left your heart in the cold  
You just need somebody to hold on, baby  
Give me a chance to put back all the pieces  
Take your broken heart  
Make it just like new  
There's so many things that I can do_

Why don't you tell me where it hurts now, baby  
And I'll do my best to make it better  
Yes, I'll do my best to make those tears all go away  
Just tell me where it hurts now, tell me  
And I love you with a love so tender  
Oh and if you let me stay  
I'll love all of the hurt away

 _"_

 _-Gabz to Paul ('Tell Me Where It Hurts' - MYMP)_

* * *

I ran towards my home, jumping through my open window since it was dark and no one was around. Paul followed me.

* * *

"Baby, I need you to breathe deep. Now think of something calm." I did as told, imagining a moment we'd had during the summer at the beach; the wind blowing through my hair as we sat and watched the nighttime waves. I felt myself shrinking, and it felt good so I continued relaxing. Before I could register, I was human again and still naked. We'd both been naked and laying in the forest.

Without alcohol in my system or something to cover my uneven tan, I felt shy standing here in the light of my room naked.

I did so with a hand over my chest and another over my private area. You know, the place where the sun don't shine, if you catch my drift. Paul chuckled and turned around while I got dressed. He had a pair of shorts he'd left so he wore that and one of my dad's plain white shirts. My dad would never know it was gone, as long as Paul didn't wear the shirt in front of him.

I left a note in the kitchen that I'd be at Samuel and Emily's since they were probably going to be late at the hospital with Bella.

Bella. Everything was always about her now. Is it wrong for me to want a little attention? Not even that, just a little sign of appreciation for the things I do around here. Just a simple 'thank you' would suffice. But not even that. They couldn't even give me a ride home. Am I really so insignificant around here?

The familiar feeling of phasing washed over me yet again. I ran out the door to the edge of the woods, not forgetting to stay hidden. Paul followed, as a human, making sure to lock the doors and get behind some trees before phasing. Good idea. I should've thought of that too, I guess.

Did he just lick me? Okay. I'll have to get used to that. Oh, piss he's running without me. Paul, come back!

I followed the dark grey figure as it swiftly ran past trees and leapt gracefully over logs. I attempted to do the same but to no hope. Well, at least I tried. Okay, I'll worry about looking pretty next time, I'm starting to lose him. The ass wasn't slowing down for me. Did no one ever think of me and how I felt?

When we got to Samuel's house, he ran out and phased as well. He and Paul seemed to be communicating. I then remembered that wolves are supposed to have telepathy. But I wasn't getting anything except for the growls and whines, and I could feel the emotions behind them but definitely not clear thoughts as I expected. After a moment of silence, the two began howling. I assumed to call the others, because they arrived moments later. I still heard no thoughts from any of them.

I know as a human, I'm a little…. 'detached' but this wasn't funny anymore, the whole spirits poking fun at me. This was a serious matter. How could they make me some kind of retarded panda bear wolf with communication problems? Not to mention, I was the smallest one here, with at least a foot of difference between Paul and I. Don't even get me started with Samuel.

Samuel was the first to turn human. Emily had been ready with some clothes and a towel, thankfully. Paul had removed his clothing before phasing and changed behind a bush. The others seemed to have clothes hidden in trees or logs and came out fully dressed. Paul motioned for me to come to him. He'd brought clothes for me. Oh, thank God. I changed quickly. I felt Samuel had something important to say. When we came out, I beat him to the punch.

"Why can't I hear you guys? Isn't there some kind of wolf telepathy? Is there something wrong with me?" I asked. Samuel and the others laughed. Oh, so they found this funny. They should be hyenas with those cackles. Jerks.

"Baby, you have to be accepted into the pack by the alpha first." Paul said, still smiling.

"Although, I don't doubt there is something wrong with you, Gabz." Jared added. After a quick glare at him, I looked to Samuel.

"Samuel, if you don't accept me I may have to hold a grudge." Samuel only laughed. Everyone seemed to be in such a great mood today.

"Of course, Gabriella." He chuckled. Then he turned to me with a serious face. "Do you wish to join this pack? A straight answer Gabriella, just yes or not, it's how it works. No funny business."

"Okay… Yes." I shrugged. Embry and Jared had gone inside and gotten a wolf-skin cloak-like thing and draped it over me.

"Do you swear to keep the pack secrets for they are not yours to tell?" I answered 'Yes' again, "Do you swear to follow your alpha and do everything in your power to protect the people of the tribe?" I nodded, somewhat hesitantly. Did I really want this? "In words, Gabriella." Sam sighed. I again, answered 'Yes.' "Then, welcome to the pack young Gabriella." He said warmly. I didn't feel very different.

"Uh, so now what? Should I put my hand over a bible or sign a legally-binding contract?" It felt too easy to get in. "Should I -" I stopped and raised an eyebrow at the way Samuel seemed to be in shock and amused all at once.

I'm surrounded by assholes.

"Sorry Gabriella. It's just I never expected you to imprint of all people. Not just because you're a girl either." Was he insulting me? "Anyways, in wolf form you will now be able to hear us. You don't have to sign anything because it's the tribe's magic, the same one that makes us phase, that binds you to following me, as your alpha." Okay, I wasn't exactly planning some kind of rebellion in which I would expose shape-shifters all-over but at least I knew now the control he had over me. Samuel continued, taking on a more serious expression." We'll have to think of an excuse to get you away from home and stay here until you can get yourself under control. You wouldn't want to hurt Bella or Charlie, which would in turn be dangerous for the whole pack." Did they have no trust in me keeping a secret whatsoever?

"Yeah, especially you Gabz. Grizzly bears and black bears could be found in the area, but I think a panda bear may alarm someone." Jared added.

"I don't think so, Jared." Oh, how nice of Embry to come to my rescue. Or so I thought. "Don't think she's big enough to be mistaken for a bear. Maybe an over-sized husky." They slapped each other's backs and had a real good laugh about it.

"Oh wow. You should all try out starting a clown service, to put your overactive funny bones to use!" I huffed. "I'm going inside to do something useful with my life. I'm starving. Maybe I'll find someone who will take me seriously while I'm at it."

It only caused them all, including Samuel and Paul, to laugh harder. I didn't miss Jared's high five to Embry either.

Like I said, surrounded by assholes.

"Not so fast. Gabriella, stay." My feet stopped and I was unable to move forward. I didn't feel any physical constraint but rather a mental one that convinced me that what Samuel was saying was the best thing to do.

"We will have a feast in celebration of your transformation." He was completely serious now. "Babe." He nodded to Emily with a smile. She smiled and retreated to the kitchen.

I looked around, expecting them all to burst into laughter. But all three boys stood still, also completely serious. It seemed food was a not a joking matter in this pack.

Well, I guess I got what I wanted.

* * *

"Well." I said happily at my reflection in Emily's living room mirror. Lines in my legs showed my muscles had been growing. My thigh and arms were no longer flabby. I was elated, Jacob always made fun of me for having flabby arms and would always repeatedly smack my arm fats at random moments. Sure, it's a lot of fun when you're doing the arm fat smacking but not so enjoyable on my part, the innocent and un-expecting victim. I'd make sure to whack him in the face with my new muscles sometime; when I got this whole temperamental transform into a wolf thing in check. It may or may not take a while.

No wonder my body had been so sore. This whole time I thought the Abs-In-Ten-Minutes tapes I'd bought were working. To find out it was actually me about to phase, really pissed me off. I spent twenty bucks and waited in a line at Wal-Mart for almost an hour just to get those damn tapes. I could've eaten twenty chicken sandwiches from the McSavers menu at McDonald's and it wouldn't have made a difference in my body.

As I peered to the side of the mirror, I saw pencil lines marked onto the wooden walls, starting from about three feet up to almost seven feet. These marks represented Samuel and I's heights over the years. In the good ol' days, when girls were growing faster than the boys and Samuel and I were in elementary, he and I were always just one inch apart in height. Yes, although he is four years older, I had always been the tallest in my class back then. When the boys started growing in middle school, there was no competition between us. For some reason, in about sixth grade, I just stopped growing. We still kept tabs here on the wall. Our last was about six months ago when he'd started growing because apparently, he'd phased at the time and I had no idea back then. What a cheater.

Now that I've phased, could I possibly have grown?

I looked around, just to make sure no one was watching. All seemed to be busy in the kitchen. The tribe's usual coming-of-age for a girl celebration involves a potlatch, but seeing as my mother was no longer alive, they all wanted to be the ones to provide for it. Each made their own 'special dish'. Paul felt my gaze and looked up from the cheese he was grating. He smiled warmly at me then immediately got back to work. I took one last glance at everyone and when I was sure no one was paying me any mind, I stood with my back against the wall and marked my height. After making a quick mark, I turned to see it.

Only to find, that it was identical to my last one. So, no change in my height.

Really though? Not even a little bit of growth? Did I do something to make the spirits hate me?

"Don't get your hopes up Gabriella." I didn't have to look to know who I was talking to.

"Oh, hello there _Samuel,_ " I sneered. "You know what? I'm glad I haven't gotten any taller." I gave him the head-to-toe look, making sure to look repulsed by what I saw, "I might get uglier, liiiike YOU." I didn't take a second to think if I should flee or not, and flee, I did. I ran while screaming and flailing my arms dramatically, hoping to get the attention of anyone courageous enough to save me. I got the attention of everyone in the house but no one offered any help.

Since no one volunteered, I forced them into becoming my human shields. First was Paul, whom Samuel didn't seem to be afraid of.

"I'm his imprint, you're not allowed to do any," I decided to make a quick get-away "haaaaaaarm!" I bellowed while diving behind Emily.

Samuel stood still with a horrified look on his face. Emily had her hand on her hip and I could only imagine the ferocious look on her face that could make Samuel frozen in his tracks.

"Honey," she said in a voice that was dangerously sweet, like arsenic or cyanide, "This is Gabe's special day. We wouldn't want to ruin it. Besides, I don't want rough play in _my_ home."

Samuel nodded, putting his arms around her and kissing her. I beamed.

One point for Gabz. Although ugly was a very grade-school insult, I still had won by using Emily to get away from any minor consequence it may bring. I took shelter under Paul's arm, just to play it safe. He scoffed as if he thought I was being childish, but when I looked he was grinning as he continued chopping.

I may be short, a little chunky, multi-colored, not the most beautiful girl out there, odd, somewhat delirious, and so forth; but I did seem to get away with everything. I think I'm pretty clever too and that all _real_ geniuses have quarrels with themselves in their minds. I'm normal, right?

Yeah, I'm normal.

Dinner was delicious. They seemed to have cooked all my favorites; lasagna and garlic bread, big juicy burgers and fries, some César salad with croutons, apple pie, roast chicken with stuffing and gravy, chocolate mud pie, pork chops, and steak. It was everything I'd ever fantasized, all on one table. And boy had my appetite grown from all the phasing.

"Gabriella," Samuel was holding a glass. Was he about to toast in my honor? Wow, I wish I'd known. I'd of prepared a little speech or something polite. "Most of here have known you since you were a baby, and to many, you're like our annoying little sister. _Very_ annoying." I resent that. "But we love you anyway and it just wouldn't be as fun without you." I was beaming. "I never expected you to become a werewolf like us. I would never wish it on you, but I know you'll be a great contribution to the pack. We have a feast for every new member, but so far this is our biggest. Not just because you're special but to celebrate our first female member." The others clapped then raised their glasses along with Samuel. It was like having my birthday for a second time this year.

When they clinked their glasses together, most broke from the force. No one seemed to mind. I guess it happens often. Emily laughed and continued talking while she swept up the shards of glass.

Poor thing, she'd done most of the cooking and now she was cleaning. I jumped up to help her but I was instantly shot down. Her face suddenly got serious.

"Gabe." Her tone demanding, "Sit down and eat. You need it.". If it was anyone else less intimidating, I would've insisted on helping. But I wasn't dumb enough to argue with her. My eyes widened for a quick second and I sat back onto the chair. She smiled pleasantly again and continued cleaning and chatting with the guys, who hadn't seemed to notice our little exchange. Samuel sat at the head of the table with Jared to his right and a seat for Emily to his left. I sat next to her empty seat, across from Paul. Embry sat to my right and Paul's left, across from Samuel. They were all talking about who was the fastest or strongest. Jared was sure to make bets on each topic.

"You know what I bet?" he motioned towards me, burger still in his hand and right cheek stuffed. I froze mid-chew, "That Gabz could beat Embry. Five bucks."

I swallowed the food in my mouth so I could react. "That's how little faith you have in me, Jared?" I put my hand on my chest dramatically, faking that I'd been offended.

"Ok, ten bucks." He said, nodding once. "Just because it's you Gabz.". I smiled in return, satisfied.

"Beat me in _what_?" Embry's voice was low. Anyone else might think it was me he was offended by, but I knew of the long feud that'd been going on between him and Jared. Honestly, it was Embry's fault for taking Jared's bets so seriously.

For some reason, I was feeling rather ballsy tonight.

"Pretty much anything." Jared shrugged simply. As another thought came to his mind, he started grinning, "She even has longer hair than you did, pretty boy. Bet it's softer and smells better too."

Embry was beginning to shake. He was often teased because of his obsession with his nice hair, which had been cut off when he'd phased. This couldn't be good. And I just had to be in the middle of all this mess. And knowing myself, I wouldn't back down especially on my first night as a wolf. I felt I had something to prove. "It's on then." Embry said in a quiet voice.

"Bring it!" I jumped out of my seat, punching the air with my fist. I was not going to be intimidated.

"I don't think so." Paul intervened. My head snapped to his direction and I let out a growl. Whoa, a little animalistic there. I was not going to play damsel-in-distress here and let Paul fight my battle for me. Embry was smirking at me.

" _I_ think so and since it is _I_ who is involved, _I_ will make the decisions." I stalked off to the grassy area in front of the house and crossed my arms, waiting for Embry.

"What's first?" I called to Jared as they all came out to watch. Paul looked furious. Embry was still smirking. The ass.

"We'll see whose faster first, then." Jared smiled at me and winked. Paul seemed to calm down a bit. Embry came down and stood next to me. I wanted to smack the smirk right off his stupid face. He was so arrogant, just because I'm a girl and a little small. I was done with people underestimating me today. Before I knew it, my body was convulsing and I felt myself transform into my wolf form.

"Well, she sure phases faster than you, Embry." Jared said matter-of-factly. Just as I had wished, Embry's smirk fell into a frown and he phased as well. Not as fast as I had, might I add. I looked to Paul. He was trying to stop himself from smiling and being proud of me despite his disapproval of the activities taking place. If a wolf could smile, I was beaming at the moment.

We were lined up at the edge of the forest furthest from Emily's for the race. Jared, oddly enough, had brought black and white checkered flags used in NASCAR races. Had he planned this? Okay Gabz, don't go getting paranoid at a time like this. Focus.

 _Yeah, focus midget._ I could hear Embry's thoughts. I simply growled in response.

We were to run only a short distance around the field and back to Emily's, where Samuel would be waiting to see who won. The whole group was rather biased and rooting for me, of course. I almost felt bad for Embry but the ass was so arrogant he even offered to take the outer loop by being on the right side. It didn't make a big difference but it was insulting on my part. Whatever, I'd have to make him lose badly then.

As soon as Jared yelled 'Go', we both took off, ready as ever in our wolf form. Embry took off with long strides that I had trouble matching. I didn't really try, I made sure my little legs did five steps for every one of his, at first, we were about equal but I pushed a little harder at the end whereas Embry had been giving it his all through the race. I made it so six of my strides would be equivalent to just one of his and pulled myself just inches forward. Samuel's proud smiling face made me push myself even harder, squeezing my eyes shut and putting all the force I had into my legs. If there was one thing I was sure of, I am a very competitive individual.

"GABRIELLA's THE WINNER!" He yelled. I was overjoyed. I was panting but not as much as Embry. His body was much larger than mine so it must've taken much more energy to run with such a heavy loud. Not to mention he's quite lean compared to me. I was pretty muscular for a female, with thick hind legs to propel me forward. Jared and Paul jogged over not bothering to hide their grins.

"That's what you get for underestimating a girl, Embry." Emily smacked him playfully, "You were close though but I think Gabz might be the fastest in the pack so far!".

 _You got lucky._ Only I could hear Embry's thoughts.

 _You wish. You're the one who got lucky, to get that close behind me._

Next thing I knew, Embry charged at me. Someone's a bit sensitive. I took a step to the side, just in time to dodge his attack. In my peripheral, I saw that Paul had phased but stopped charging once he saw that Embry had missed.

 _You really are slow, Emz. It's alright, at least you still look pretty._ I thought, only making him angrier. He came back to bite me, again and again. I'm sure it would have hurt if he'd made contact, but I was able to dodge in between his legs and around him, so he didn't get so lucky. I didn't taunt him because I was focused on not being bit, he came real close quite a few times, and I didn't want to aggravate him anymore. As my muscles began to feel a bit tired from all the jumping around, Embry stopped. He flopped onto the floor, too tired to keep trying. I hadn't bitten him because every time I would try, he would attack as well and I would have to pull myself away again as not to get hit.

 _Fine, Gabz. You win this time._ He looked up to me, rolling his eyes when I gave him my wolfy grin. I felt myself starting to calm down. Meaning I would become human again. Oh my, I should hide. I felt myself beginning to change mid-jump and hopefully I'd gotten behind the bush just in time. I peered over the top of the bush to see Embry's wolf form disappearing behind the house. Paul was running over to me, already in a new pair of shorts, with my extra pair of clothes. How many extra pairs had he brought? Good thinking on his part.

I changed quickly in the clothes. I was sticky from sweat and almost regretted the whole competition.

"Now, that was unexpected. I'm sorry for doubting you baby. You were amazing." He lifted me bridal style and kissed me on the cheek despite the dripping sweat. I decided to forgive him since the gesture was so sweet although a bit disgusting. "But it's not going to happened again. " My mouth dropped open. Why was he so overprotective? I'd understand if I'd almost died or something but he hadn't even gotten close at nipping me. As flattering as it was that he cared so much, it was insulting that he was still underestimating me.

"Did you not just see all that? He wasn't even close!" I whined.

"Gabby, it's not going to happen again. I'll be making sure Jared keeps you out of his bets from now on." His voice told me his decision was final. I pushed myself out of his arms and stomped all the way to the house. He was treating me like a little child, so I acted like one. The ass found this funny. I continued to ignore him as soon as we were inside.

"Em, can I take a shower?" I asked politely. She nodded with small smile. When I turned to get to the bathroom, Paul was right behind me. I felt steam coming out of my ears. Well, at least I imagined I did, just like in the cartoons.

"I may not have a mother, but I do have a father. So, you don't have to act like one." Unless he was trying to be a mother figure. Ew. I could imagine him in an apron and it was not a pretty sight. My statement seemed to shock him and he didn't move when I weaved around him and made a bee line for the bathroom. I almost felt bad for what I'd said to him. Almost.

A hot shower was just what I needed; it cleaned off the sweat and dirt and made me feel fresh again. It also relaxed my tired muscles. As I was taking my sweet time, lathering up Emily's floral scented soap, I heard a light knock on the door. I had a feeling it was Paul. Whoever it was, didn't say anything and didn't knock a second time. It probably was Paul and he was probably feeling pretty bad. I was starting to feel bad. I blame the imprint though. I forced myself with much effort to ignore the feeling and came out of the shower singing. I continued even when I came out of the bathroom, fully dress but with a towel on my head.

"Oooooh! When a maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan loves a woman, he can't keep his mind – oh." I sang, putting my arms out to the side at the high note and pulling them into fists after, until I realized everyone was in the living room and staring at me from the couch. Should I just act like nothing happened or make some kind of excuse? Unable to think of anything, I simply acknowledged the moment by clearing my throat and then sitting down next to Jared on the couch. I turned my head slowly, only to see exactly what I'd feared, they were still staring at me. Quick Gabz! Change the subject or something. Get the attention of your stupid moment.

* * *

 _Ooh! When a man loves a woman, he can't keep his mind on nothing else  
He'll trade the world for the good thing he's found  
If she is bad, he can't see it, she can do no wrong  
Turn his back on his best friend if he put her down_

 _-When A Man Loves a Woman (Joshua Ledet Version)_

* * *

"So, uh, did Embry pay you?" I asked Jared with a very forced smile.

"He'd won our last bet so it was pretty much even." He shrugged.

"Nice fight though Gabz. But don't expect to get so lucky next time." Embry winked at me. I knew Paul wanted to saw there wouldn't be a next time, and I was sure he would still make sure there wasn't, but he sat there quietly, not looking up. So, he felt bad about treating me like a little girl.

Good.

I felt the urge to jump back into his arms but I resisted. My foot twitched a little but that was it. I even prevented myself from smirking, keeping the straight face I'd been practicing.

Samuel cleared his throat, he had something to say. "Gabriella, we'll have to make arrangements with your father for you to stay here for two weeks." I opened my mouth to argue but Samuel cut me off, "Your father will be fine, we'll take turns patrolling your house." He'd read my mind. Could he do that even in human form? "You pose a threat to his well-being, with your current inability to control your phase when you become overly emotional. I will be helping you to overcome this. As soon as you're able to keep yourself from phasing, you can go home. We will call Charlie tomorrow, give yourself two or three weeks."

We discussed several stories to tell my dad, but the best we thought of was to say it was a tribe coming-of-age thing. We'd also have to give a letter to the school to excuse me. The school always respected the tribe's celebrations and we expected it to be approved without much questioning. Paul would get my work for me. To make sure my dad would approve, we would say it was part of my mother's will that I go through with it. Out of respect for my deceased mother, he would not disagree. He never did, when it came to her. It must've been guilt. Not just for getting her pregnant, which ended up killing her, but also for dishonoring her by getting her pregnant out of wedlock. It happened sometimes but was absolutely degrading in our tribe's culture.

I ignored Paul as Jared and Embry went home, and Samuel and Emily went to bed. As much as Samuel was acting like a big brother, Emily told him not to get in between another wolf and his imprint even more so two wolves whom had imprinted on one another. It seemed pretty sure that we were meant to be together and, in this pack, it meant we had to end up together. As romantic as it all is, I couldn't help but dislike the feeling that my life seemed to be chosen for me. Well, as long as it's Paul I guess. I really do love him. Either way, all I wanted was for him to come talk to me first even if he didn't apologize. Which he did not do.

We went inside the guest bedroom Emily had prepared for us. It was on the other side of the house from their room.

"Baby, do you want me to stay here in the guest room with you or just go home?" He was dumb to even suggest it. I raised my eyebrow at him, he knew it was playful because of the small smile I had. He stood up and pulled me up by the hand. He bent down to kiss me. His lips came down to mine in a passionate kiss that left me catching my breath afterward. I took his hand and led him into the guest room. I hadn't had anything to drink so that was about as daring as I got. Paul on the other hand, was exceptionally bold.

As soon as we'd reached the bed, he pulled himself on top of me and was kissing me with a fire I didn't know he possessed. I shivered when he started moving towards my neck and down my navel. I could feel his warm lips even through the thin material I was wearing. He slowly peeled my top off and tossed it aside. I gasped at the feeling of his lips directly leaving hot trails on my skin. He grinned at my reaction.

"Do you want to, baby?" he asked.

"Do _you_?" I rebutted. He looked at me as if I'd sprouted another head.

"Is that a serious question?" He half-laughed. I raised a brow and he stopped.

"You've just never wanted to before..."

"I did, baby but I told you I wasn't sure if you were going to leave me. And if you did, I wanted be sure the guy you chose over me wouldn't disrespect you because of something we did." He explained. "I've wanted this since the moment I imprinted on you... maybe even before that."

We made love for the first time that night. It didn't hurt as badly as I thought it might. Paul made sure to take care of me first. Twice! I knew from my friends' stories that not all guys did this. He also did for a third time afterwards. He didn't use a condom, he thought it would hurt more but I was upset. What if I got pregnant! He said he'd take care of it, but I was not ready to have a child.

I woke up sore the next morning and not just from the little battle I'd had with Embry. Still, I didn't regret it. I knew Paul was the one for me. It was the becoming a wolf thing that I wasn't quite sure I wanted. Even though I could whoop Embry's ass, it meant I could have to stay forever on this reservation. It was my plan before to go to college around here to be near dad, but when it was forced upon me it only made me want to get away. Far, far away.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, this is basically all of New Moon in one chapter. Lots of stuff goes down though.**

 **I somehow surprised myself with this one. I included Gabz where I thought I wouldn't and didn't include her in scenes I'd been so sure she'd be a part of.**

 **Hopefully it isn't too predictable! But then again, maybe I'm just so gullible I easily surprise myself xD**

 **I'd originally included part of Eclipse but the chapter was way too long.**

* * *

After a week of my training, I had started to make progress on controlling my emotions and phasing. I was also taught the reason we had started phasing, there were near vampires nearby. Jacob phased not too long after me. Apparently, he'd been having temper problems and fever since we went to the movies with Bella and Mike. He was the biggest wolf of them all, apparently his family came from a long line of Alphas.

We were both doing so well with not phasing, I thought I might be able to go home and see my dad after just a week.

It wasn't until one morning when I woke up and Paul's phone was on the floor. I knew he wouldn't want his fancy new smartphone stepped on so I picked it up to put it on the dresser. Normally, I wouldn't ever think of going through his texts but his phone was open to a conversation.

From Rachel.

'What do you mean you won't be coming over anymore?' It said. My curiosity burned through me. Wasn't it a bit late to be texting that? They'd broken up months ago. I opened up the conversation. So, they'd been texting recently... scrolling I found he'd seen her a few weeks ago. 'Come over then.' She had replied. I found more as I kept scrolling. He'd been telling her everything. How he couldn't have sex with me because I was a virgin and if I chose someone else he didn't want them to love me less because he'd taken it from me. She'd replied that she would wait for him.

This was why she'd been smiling at me all the time. That desperate bitch. I clicked back, not wanting to read anymore but I saw another name other than mine. Alyssa. From what I could read in the texts, they had also been seeing one another. And doing more it seemed from her texts.

I threw his stupid phone on the desk, waking him up.

"Hey, baby." He stretched as he woke. His smile fell when he saw how angry I was. "What happened?"

"You left your phone on the floor. I picked it up so you wouldn't step on it. I wish I hadn't." His jaw dropped. "Are you going to explain?"

"Baby, please don't leave." Was all he could say. I could feel myself shaking, no matter how hard I tried to breathe to calm myself but it wasn't working so I ran outside before I phased. I hadn't even reached the door when I did.

"Gabby!" I heard Paul yell before. Sam and Emily had also rushed out.

"You stay here." He pointed at Paul angrily. He phased and ran after me but I sprinted off. When Sam phased I felt him in my thoughts. He could see the texts I saw, replaying in my head.

 _Gabriella_ , I heard Sam in my head. _I'll make him go home. Just come back with me._

 _I can't stay there anymore Samuel. All our memories together are there. I have to go home._

 _You're not ready yet,_ was the last thing Sam said before changing back and heading to Emily's.

I thought I was. I mean, could they really blame me? If this hadn't happened I would have had my phasing in full control. Could any of them control themselves after this? Probably not.

I ran back to the house and jumped through the open bedroom window before changing back. I put clothes on and started to pack my things. I could sense Paul was still outside, fighting with Sam. Emily came inside with me.

"Hey, Gabz. Sweetheart, Sam says you can stay at Jacob's. We understand if you aren't comfortable in this room anymore." She gave me a hug and I couldn't stop myself from sobbing into her shoulder. "Shhh. It will all be okay. We are all here for you. Hey, I have something to tell you." I looked up, stopping my sobs. "Sam and I are expecting." She said in a soft voice. I smiled at first, but then I sobbed again.

"I'm sorry Emily," I said between sobs, "it's just, I could be too." She gasped.

"How long has it been?" She asked.

"A week. It was only once, well once that we didn't use protection." I cried. What would I do if I was pregnant? I couldn't forgive him after what he did. I'd have to raise my child on my own. Emily stayed with me, letting me cry until Paul left. Sam came in shortly grabbing my packed bags.

"You don't have to leave, sweetheart. But we understand if you want to." Emily said.

"I'd like to go. Now. Sorry, Emily. Congratulations by the way." I smiled sadly.

"Thank you, sweetheart. C'mon. We'll walk you over to Billy's."

* * *

Bella came over a week after Jacob had transformed. He had been avoiding her, as Sam had commanded us to. She had been texting and calling me as well and it broke my heart not to be able to reply. Nikki and Cameron had texted me but I only told them the same tribe's coming of age tradition excuse. Chris even tried to text but I deleted it right away. Because that's what loyal people did in a relationship, even though Paul and I technically weren't in one anymore.

The first time Bella came over, I watched as Jacob told her he couldn't see her anymore. I cried with her, even though she couldn't see me. Not long later, the pack found her alone with a vampire, the one with the dreads. Apparently, Paul had finished him off. I hadn't seen him since I caught him cheating. I couldn't talk to him yet and Sam wouldn't let him come to the meetings until I told him I was ready. Rachel had gone back to her college dorm in the meantime. I wished I could go home so I didn't have to be reminded of the two of them but Sam didn't think I was ready. He was afraid I might harm Charlie or Bella.

"Sam." Our alpha was caught off guard when I didn't call him by his full name like I normally did. He looked to the rest of the pack and they all knew to leave the house and let us talk. "One of us has to talk to Bella She's going off on her own; she's in danger!"

"No. You aren't ready yet. Neither is Jacob. And you can't tell her what's going on. She isn't emotionally stable right now." he said in a stern voice. He was using his alpha tone to forbid me from telling her.

"She has to know to stay safe. Or Jacob and I at least have to tell her we're not upset with her. She thinks she's alone. That's why she keeps doing stupid things." I argued. I had never raised my voice to Sam before but I was worried about Bella with that Victoria leech hanging around.

"Fine." Sam sighed. "You and Jacob can go see her. But you cannot tell her what we are or what we do." He ordered. I nodded. He called Jacob over to explain. The two of us high-fived when he was done. Sam rolled his eyes at us.

"We'll go tonight." Jacob decided and I nodded.

* * *

 **PAUL POV**

"What the hell are you doing here?" I snapped at Rachel, ready to close the door in her face.

"Wait. Paul." she held the door so I wouldn't close. "She doesn't want you anymore." Her words stung. Gabby hadn't made a decision yet but it seemed like she would leave me. "Come be with me instead." Rachel offered and I growled making her take her hand off the door and back away.

"No. If I can't have her, I'd rather be alone."

"What about your needs, Paul?" She felt daring enough to take a step closer with a seductive look in her eye. It no longer had any effect on me. She glanced down to check.

"I don't need you. If you hadn't convinced me that I needed sex because I'm male, I would still have Gabby." I took a step back from her, glaring.

"So, she finally gave it up to you, huh." Rachel laughed, "Is that why you don't need me anymore? Or are you seeing Alyssa?"

"I don't want anything to do with either of you. It's none of your goddamn business what Gabby and I have done, Rachel. Get the fuck off my porch and out of my life." I finally slammed the door in her face and locked the door behind me. She banged on the door and sobbed but I ignored her.

After Gabby, I didn't want anyone else. But I didn't expect her to come back either. Not after what I did to her. The entire pack was pissed at me now and I didn't blame them. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.

* * *

 **Gabz POV**

Our visit with Bella didn't go as planned. She'd forgotten the stories Jacob had told her a year ago. She only remembered the part about the cold ones, not the wolves. We let her know that we couldn't tell her. We'd been ordered not to.

"Gabz, don't go." She begged, tugging at my arm.

"I can't, Bells. But I will as soon as I can, I promise." I felt tears fall from my eyes. "Please don't tell Charlie. He can't know. But you have to remember what Jacob told you." We hugged and I let Jacob and Bella have a moment alone before we left. He later told me she'd asked him to run away but I reminded him that he couldn't.

"I know that, Gabz." Jacob answered in a frustrated tone. It wasn't long before he started shaking and phased. I was able to stop myself from doing so and rode home on his back instead. I opened Jacob's window before falling asleep. I had a feeling he would have trouble calming down and turning back to his human form.

Bella came over the next morning. Billy told her neither of us were home but she pushed past him. I wasn't sure if I admired her determination or was upset because she took advantage of a guy in a wheel chair.

"Bella, don't!" I called after her. As far as I knew, Jacob was still a giant wolf. He'd fallen asleep that way. I breathed a sigh of relief when she opened the door and found him sleeping in human form. She angrily looked out the window and ran outside. When I looked out the window, I saw Paul for the first time since we'd broken up.

My heart felt like it stopped and I couldn't move. I wanted so badly to run into his arms but flashes of the texts I'd read came flooding back. I couldn't face him yet. Sam was right. I was not ready.

"She's arguing with them, Gabe. You have to get out there!" Billy pointed at Bella. I nodded, and ran after her. My heart was beating a hundred miles per hour but I swallowed and did my best to be brave.

"What did we do? What did he say? What do you know?" Paul was asking. Sam held out his arm to stop Paul with a quick glance at me.

"Both of you calm down." Sam ordered.

"Is it you? Did you threaten my sister? Why can't she tell me anything?" Bella pointed her finger in his face. "They haven't told me anything because they're scared of you three!". Paul and Jared laughed at this. Bella slapped him hard against his face causing Paul to shake angrily and lose his temper. Sam tried to calm him but it was no use.

"Bella!" I yelled sprinting towards her.

"Gabz! Jake! Run!" She screamed running towards us.

Jacob ran from out of the house, taking off his shirt and phasing mid-leap. He crashed in Paul and they started fighting. I wasn't sure what the hell Paul's problem was but I knew Jacob was already pissed at him with what happened with Rachel.

"Gabz, take Bella to Emily's place. Now!" I couldn't disobey his alpha command so I held on to Bella. Embry and Jared drove her truck while we sat in the back.

"Guess the wolf's out of the bag now." Embry and Jared chuckled.

It was a short drive to Emily's house. I breathed as I tried to deal with the dread of seeing their home again and the memories I'd had with Paul in it.

"I really think we should go back and see if Jake's okay." She said as they were getting out.

"No way! I hope Paul sinks his teeth into him. Serves him right." Jared joked.

"Nah! Jacob is a natural. Did you see him phase on the fly? Five bucks says Paul doesn't touch him." Embry argued.

"Easy money. Jacob's a rookie. Paul's a veteran."

"C'mon, Bella. Come inside, we won't bite." Embry called to Bella.

"Speak for yourself." Jared laughed, winking at Bella.

"Idiots." I rolled my eyes. "C'mon Bells. Oh, don't stare at Emily's scars, it bugs Sam." I opened the truck door and hopped out. Bella followed suit and went inside the house with me.

"Why would I stare?" I heard Bella mumble before entering. When she saw Emily, she knew exactly what I meant.

"Are you guys hungry? Ha, like I even have to ask. And who might this be?" Emily asked. She knew who Bella was, she looked too much like me, but I figure Emily wanted to be polite.

"Bella Swan. Who else?" Embry answered for Bella.

"Ah, so you're the vampire girl." Emily joked lightheartedly.

"So, you're the wolf girl?" Bella answered, smiling. Emily laughed and nodded.

"Guess so, well I'm engaged to one. Wolf girls, actually." Emily winked at me.

"Oh yeah, Paul too. I saw." Bella nodded. I winced at the mention of his name.

"She means me, Bells. I am too." I clarified.

"What? But how?"

"From my mom's side, Bells. I've been learning to control it so I don't hurt you or dad. I can come home when I'm able to." I smiled at the thought.

"Muffins?" Emily offered. The two boys reached to grab some but Emily slapped their wrists. "Hey. Ladies first," Emily pushed the bowl towards us and we each took one. "And save some for your brothers!" She scolded when Jared tried to take two.

"Leave it to you and Jacob to find a way around Sam's gag order." Emily shook her head but smiled. I knew she'd been rooting for us.

"Oh, they didn't say anything." Bella defended us.

"Yeah, it's a wolf thing. We have to do what alpha says whether we want to or not." Embry explained, "Oh, and check it out. We can hear each other's thought." he added slyly, hinting that he saw Jacob's memories of her.

"Hey, these are trade secrets!" Jared complained. "This chick runs with vampires!"

"You can't really run with vampires." Bella laughed nervously. We all looked up at her confused. "Cause they're really fast."

We all snorted except for Jared. See? Bella was great! She wasn't even trying to be funny!

"Yeah? Well, we're faster." Jared challenged. I laughed out loud for the first time in days. Leave it to Jared to get butthurt about something so little. "Scared yet?" He grinned at Bella mischievously.

"Not really. You aren't the first monsters I've met." Bella shrugged.

"Jake's right; you're good with weird. I guess you have to be with this nut for a sister." He pointed at me.

"Hey!" I crumpled the muffin wrapper at tossed it at his forehead but he batted it away with a lazy hand. He moved to Emily and showered her in kisses. Bella watched them fascinated as he kissed her scars and the rest of her face. Emily giggled sweetly.

I heard two familiar voices laughing and messing around outside. Paul and Jacob came through the door together. I should have been more prepared to see him. While Bella stared at Jacob, I stared at Paul. He'd walked in when I had still been laughing at Bella. My face fell when I saw him and he avoided my gaze.

"Sorry." He apologized to Bella with a smile before turning back to get a muffin.

"That's it? That's all you have to say? Were you planning on just ignoring me?" I yelled, beginning to shake but I took deep breaths to calm myself. I couldn't lose control. I had to prove to Sam that I could do it. I looked at Sam, who seemed proud of me as he nodded. I didn't have the strength to smile back.

"Do you want to talk to me?" He asked, looking at me with sad eyes. When he looked directly at me, I saw his eyes had dark circles as if he hadn't been sleepy. They also looked somewhat reddened as if he'd cried. My heart broke seeing my imprint hurt. As much as I wanted to be angry with him, I couldn't. It was probably the wolf instinct.

I nodded at him and he stood up. He came closer. "Words baby. I need to hear you say yes."

"Yes." my voice sounded as small as I felt. He held out a hand to me and I took it.

"Don't hurt her anymore." Sam said in his alpha tone of voice. Paul nodded.

"I'll see you later, Bells." Bella nodded as well, but she kept her eyes on Paul, narrowing them in suspicion.

"Don't you dare hurt my sister again." She threatened. Paul's eyebrows furrowed but he didn't respond otherwise.

We walked in silence for a while, until we were in the forest. I waited for him to speak first.

"Gabby, I'm so sorry but you know I don't sugarcoat the truth." He began.

"Good. My dad was worried about me getting diabetes." I answered angrily but mentally face-palming myself afterward. Be serious Gabz! Paul shook his head, holding back a smile.

"I don't have an excuse for you," he continued, "I shouldn't have done what I did. I understand if you don't forgive me. I'll be whatever you want me to be for you."

"I do forgive you." I surprised myself, but when I said it I knew it was true. Harboring anger would only harm me. It may feel good at first but the negativity would only affect me. "I just don't understand why you did it. Am I not enough for you?" I asked, tears prickling at my eyes.

"No, you're perfect. You're all I ever need and more. I let my insecurities get to me. I was so sure you'd leave me and I was being honest when I said I didn't want to take your virginity if you were going to choose someone else. I did what I did to try and control myself around you. I had trouble resisting without your teasing and I didn't think I could do it without taking care of it. But I could have. Well, it didn't make a difference anyway. I still wanted you."

"Do you love her?"

"I love you more." it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear but at least he was honest. It stung but it was better than him rejecting me entirely.

"Do you want to have an open relationship? You could see whoever you wanted..." I offered. The imprint instinct in me was willing to accept anything as long as it made him happy, no matter how much it hurt me.

"I don't want anyone else. If it would make you happy to see other people, I'd have to deal with it then." He shrugged. The bond a wolf has for its imprint was incredible.

It was how love should be.

Self-less.

Putting their happiness before yours.

"I only want you." I admitted to both him and myself. "Why were you so happy when you came in?"

"I heard your laugh." Paul smiled, and I understood what he meant, "And Sam had agreed I could come see you today. That's where we were headed when Bella saw us."

"Oh yeah. I'm mad at you for attacking my sister too. You could have killed her!" I smacked his arm.

"Rachel came by that morning." I froze at her name, "I told her to get the fuck off my porch because of what she did. She told me I wouldn't be able to control myself around you unless I took care of my needs. But she was wrong." My blood boiled when I heard the truth. That manipulative bitch. "So, that's why I was already angry when Bella hit me. And because I'm a mess without you. I've been having trouble controlling my emotions lately." I raised an eyebrow and he laughed, "Even worse than before, I mean."

"That's dangerous. So. You need me?" I teased and he nodded.

"Do you still want to meet my family?" He asked, looking down at the ground. I inched closer and held his hands, making him peer up at me. I nodded to answer his question. He leaned closer as if to kiss me but stopped himself.

"Kiss me." I whispered and he did, picking me up at the same time. I wrapped my legs around him and kissed him back. Everything felt right again and it seemed like I'd almost forgotten what had happened. All I felt was my desire for him again and judging by the bulge I felt on my sex, he felt the same. He backed up onto a tree and I ground my hips onto him.

"No." he said, breaking our kiss. I gave him an angry confused look. "Someone might see us. I don't want anyone to see what's mine." he growled. "I'll take you to my place. But my dad... he's not right. Living without your imprint... it destroys you. I thought introducing you might bring back the pain for him but I can't hide you forever. Please try not to judge him. I used to but when I imprinted on you I understood him better."

"Of course. Why didn't you just tell me? We wouldn't have had to go through all this."

Paul shrugged. "You already know why. I'm an idiot." I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling.

"You're my idiot though."

* * *

We made our way back to Emily's and were greeted with whistles and cheers. Even Bella couldn't help but smile. She'd have to get used it; there was never a dull moment with the pack.

"I say we celebrate with a feast!" Jared yelled, fist-punching the air.

"You're just hungry."

"Yeah, so?"

My stomach chose that moment to let out a loud grumble, and Jared gave me a smug look.

"Shut up."

Emily was already in the kitchen, and I could hear the clanking of pots and pans.

"Didn't we just eat?" Bella asked with a confused look.

"Get used to it, Bells." I answered and she nodded, but her eyes were still wide. Jacob stood behind her with his hands in his pocket and a face much too serious for a conversation about food. He looked up when he felt me staring and I tried to encourage him by making small motions with my hands as if pushing him.

"Hey, Bella. Could we talk?" He asked and Bella jumped a little, startled by his voice.

""Oh, yeah sure." She answered, standing up.

"Let's take a walk. The beach isn't too far from here." Jacob suggested narrowing his eyes at the rest of us. He already knew we'd try to eavesdrop if he were anywhere in our hearing range. Everyone in the room but him in Bella were suddenly fascinated by various pieces of furniture in the house. We _totally_ weren't avoiding eye contact or anything.

"...okay." Bella said giving the rest of us an odd look. "Gabz, will you be okay?

I still didn't look her or Jacob in the eye but I saw her glare at Paul in my peripherals. "I'm fine, Bells. Love you." This time I looked her in the eye and smiled. She smiled at me, but gave a stern look to Paul, then used two fingers to point at her eyes and then point them at his eyes as if to say 'I'm watching you.'. Paul grinned and winked at her so she gave him the stink eye the entire way out.

It seems my weirdness had rubbed off on Bella for the year or so she'd lived with us. Good. Normal is boring anyway.

"So, I take it you two will be moving back here?" Emily gave us a knowing smile. Oh, Emily, ever the instigator. The guys all wiggled their eyebrows, all except for Sam, who was ever the big brother figure.

Shit. Had Paul been thinking about _those_ moments while on patrol? The way he avoided my eye contact told me he had.

I died of humiliation there on the spot.

Luckily, Emily had made all my favorite foods to revive me. The guys went home or on patrol after the meal and Jacob took Bella home. They'd agreed that Jacob would be busy chasing Victoria with us and our dad chasing us. Apparently, before Bella knew she'd told him that she'd seen giant wolves. Luckily, Harry Clearwater was with dad, covering up any tracks.

When Paul and I were finally alone, things got heated but I interrupted.

"I think... I want to do things differently for now." I sighed.

"Take things slow?" Paul asked, "Sure, baby. I can wait. We don't have to do anything."

"That's not what I meant." I said, "I think we shouldn't focus on the relationship and feelings for now. I don't want us to feel... stuck." Paul looked confused. I didn't blame him, I was shocked with myself but I guess this evening was just chock full of surprises.

Paul became very tense. "What do you mean?"

"I think we should just keep it physical for now. There's too much going on right now to worry about feelings." I tried my best to explain. For some reason, going back to what we had gave me anxiety. That he might repeat his mistakes. I didn't want to be his innocent, boring girlfriend. "Nobody has to know we're together. You can even stay at the school here on the rez. Maybe we were together too much."

"Baby... I don't want to be far from you. I want everyone to know you're mine." his face was dark.

"People don't care if we're together or not. They do what they want. I don't want to feel stupid again. I can't stand another one of Rachel's smug looks." I was shaking just at the thought.

"She won't. I won't let her near you. And she won't have a reason to be so smug."

I couldn't stand how everyone treated me like I was a child. Sure, I could be childish but it was time to grow up. After all, I might have a child myself. Only another week and I'd be able to take a pregnancy test. "I'm not fragile, Paul! I can take care of myself." I snapped, instantly feeling bad when he flinched.

"If that's what you want. I don't like it but as long as I can see you..." I almost took what I said back but it was better this way. That way he wouldn't have to feel guilty. It also made me feel better. I loved him but I also didn't like the feeling of having my future chosen for me. We could try again, maybe when the whole Victoria thing was over with.

"I want you." I said, pushing him back to lay down on the bed. He still seemed unsure but wasn't able to resist.

* * *

"Sleep well?" Emily asked as soon as I entered the kitchen, a smile playing at her lips.

"Where's Samuel?" I asked, noticing he wasn't around. Jared and Embry were already digging into the eggs and bacon. Paul sat down next to them. The three of them grinning at one another.

Boys. Ugh.

"He left last night for patrol." Emily laughed. I was horrified. He'd left because he'd heard me last night and couldn't stand it. By the snickering of the three guys, they were aware. I noted Jacob was gone as well.

"Yeah. We're going to have to arrange the patrol schedule. We won't be patrolling with anyone else." I narrowed my eyes at Jared and Embry. Paul growled at the thought of them seeing what we did behind closed doors.

"Relax, Paul. We don't want to see any of that." Embry threw his hands up.

"Speak for yourself." Jared joked, causing Paul to knock him and his chair onto the floor. I rolled my eyes, sipping my coffee. "Sheez, I'm kidding. She's like our sister. Gross."

"So, you're saying my girl's gross?" Paul raised an eyebrow.

"No. Just. We don't think of her like that." That seemed to satisfy Paul. He helped Jared back up, who went right back to eating. "Crazy ass imprinting."

"It'll happen to you someday Jared." Someday soon, I hoped, remembering that he hadn't looked Cameron in the eye yet. "Cameron Cameron." I smiled fondly at the thought.

"What're you on about?" He narrowed his eyes at me. Paul had caught on to what was going on in my conniving mind and was shaking his head.

"Oh, nothing." I said sweetly, already excited to go back to school so I could bring my best friends onto the Rez and use my match making skills. My smile fell when Sam entered with Jacob, greeting Emily as he normally did.

"You." He pointed at Paul, "We'll talk about Patrol schedules because you are not patrolling with me.". Paul only grinned at him.

"Or me." Jacob made a grossed-out face. He's lucky I wasn't the sensitive type or my feelings might be hurt.

The same teasing went on all through breakfast and the pack meeting. Paul and I were scheduled together. We were to keep our "shenanigans" (I laughed out loud when Samuel said this), to nights when Sam and Jacob were on patrol or keep the noise down.

The rest of the week was pretty much the same. At the end of the week, Emily came to see me when we were alone. I hadn't told Paul that I might be pregnant because I didn't want to think about it yet. On Patrols, I kept my mind on other things to distract myself.

My heart felt like it would beat right out of my chest when Emily went to check the pee stick I'd left on the sink counter.

"It's negative." She said, waiting for my response. Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I heard Paul's voice.

"What's negative?" He asked, his backpack still hanging off one shoulder. I froze as he made his way to us. I quickly pushed the stick into the trash but he'd already seen it, "Why didn't you tell me you thought you were pregnant?"

Emily took that as her cue to leave the room.

"I didn't want you to worry!"

"So, you hid it? What else are you hiding from me?" He looked hurt and my heart hurt seeing his expression. "I wouldn't want you to deal with that on your own, baby. It'd be my fault." I shrugged and he pulled me closer, embracing me.

"Gabriella?" Sam called my name and we broke apart.

"I'm here!" I called back.

"Are you alright?" He asked. It seemed Emily had told him about the test. I smiled and nodded, "I think you're ready to go home." I squealed and ran to give him a hug. "Remember to keep yourself in control. You can't let Charlie know about us or anyone at school."

"Yeah, yeah. Got it." I waved a hand and went to get my things ready. As great as my stay had been on the reservation, I was worried about my dad.

* * *

Sam dropped me off at home, to Paul's displeasure but we knew it'd make Charlie feel better about me being gone if it wasn't my boyfriend to drop me off. When we got there, he was sitting on the porch waiting for me. I wondered if he'd been there since I'd called and told him I'd be home.

"There's my girl! I can't believe how much you've grown in a month." He gave me a bear hug and spun me around. "Still didn't get any taller though." He teased and I huffed, crossing my arms. Samuel laughed

"I missed you dad." I said honestly as he ruffled my hair.

"I missed you, sweetheart. I'm sorry we missed your calls the night Bella hit her head." He'd already apologized over text and phone calls a million times and I'd completely forgiven him. I was overly emotional at that time because of the whole shape-shifter thing anyways.

"It's okay, dad. Bella doesn't have to know I'm your favorite child." I patted him on the back, keeping a solemn expression, "Speaking of which, where is my poor less favored sister?"

"She went on to the reservation a few hours ago just before you called. I was wondering why you hadn't come together, actually."

Uh-oh. Where was my adrenaline junkie trouble magnet of a sister now? "So, she didn't know I was coming home?"

My dad shook his head, now alarmed. "I thought she'd find out when she got there. "

"She's probably with Jacob. I'll go find her."

"I'll come with you. You just got home." My dad offered but his walkie-talkie started speaking.

"Officer Swan? We need you to come down to the emergency room. Harry Clearwater had a heart attack." It said.

"Dad, I'll get Bella. Harry needs you." I reassured him and he nodded, not taking another moment to run for his cop car. He turned the sirens on and sped on his way to the hospital.

"Sam, we've got to go!" I reminded him. We hopped back into his truck and he sped on his way to the reservation.

When we got to Emily's, there was a huge commotion. Most of the pack were in wolf form and there was a light grey colored wolf I'd never seen before. Sam hopped out of the truck, transforming quickly and I followed suit.

 _Sam, it's Leah. She's a wolf._ I heard Paul's voice in my head. He looked to me but I was looking for Jacob.

 _Jacob, Bella's here on the reservation. Have you seen her?_ I inquired when I spotted him.

 _What? No, I haven't._

Shit. Where would she be?

 _The cliffs._ Jacob though and I agreed, grabbing the clothes bag from the truck. _Shit, I just chased Victoria down that way. She jumped into the water._ Jacob realized.

 _Jacob, go down to the beach in case she jumped. I'll go up to the cliff._ We both nodded and sprinted to where I'd said.

 _Gabby, I'm going with you._ I heard Paul again.

 _We're fine! Leah needs you!_ I argued, not stopping to wait for him.

 _They can handle it._ He raced through the forest following me. When we arrived at the cliffs, Bella was nowhere to be found. I ran to the edge and peered down at the sea. I could make out Bella's hair in the water. About twenty feet away I saw orange

Victoria.

 _Gabby, no!_ I heard Paul's voice right before I jumped.

Apparently, even as a wolf I couldn't swim. Instead of saving Bella, I started to get carried by the strong current, my body shifting as I was pulled by a wave and crashed into the rocky cliff. My vision faded just before I saw Victoria swimming towards me.

When I woke up, I could feel someone pumping my chest in CPR and giving me a rescue breath. I began to choke and cough out water.

"Thank God you're alright." My vision was still blurry but I could just make out Paul. He'd draped a towel over my naked body and was now holding me in his arm.

"Bella. C'mon, Bella. Breathe!" I saw Jacob hunched over my sister's body, doing the same as Paul had done for me.

"Bella!" I tried to scream but my voice came out weak. She started to sputter out water.

"Jake?" She asked in a weak voice.

"Bring her home!" I hadn't realized Sam was there, "I'm going to go over to Harry's!"

"What happened to Harry?" Bella asked.

I answered, "Heart attack."

"Is he ok?"

I didn't know the answer to her question. Apparently, Jacob did. "He's gone." He informed us both. That's why Sam had come to tell us.

"Leah." My eyes widened.

"They got her under control." Jacob assured me. "I'll take Bella home. With her truck."

"Not without me you don't." I tried to stand but wasn't strong enough yet. Paul lifted me up and took me into a thicket of trees and helped me change into some clothes. We got the feeling the two needed privacy so we rode in the back of Bella's truck. The cold didn't bother our wolf heat.

We stopped in front of the house, Paul and I hopped out to give the two more time but we both froze at the door when we inhaled the sickeningly bleach-like stink coming from the house.

Vampire.

It wasn't Victoria but I wasn't going to take any chances with Bella here.

"Bella! Vampire!" I screamed, running to the truck to warn them. They were close together and I seemed to have interrupted a very intimate moment. Jacob tried to start the car but Bella looked around and saw a familiar car parked on the street. She hopped out of the truck and tried to run into the house but I grabbed her arm.

"It's okay! It's Carlisle's car." She pointed out.

"Bella, it could be a trap." Jacob warned. "We can't protect you here."

"It's the weird chick that sees the future." Paul said, recognizing her scent. I let go of Bella's arm and relaxed. I didn't think any of the Cullens would hurt her especially with the three of us outside. Jacob paced around for about fifteen minutes, then decided to go in. Paul and I followed to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"What is that god-awful wet dog smell, Bella?" I heard the spacey Cullen ask. Bella explained that she'd been with us wolves.

"Bella! Werewolves are not good company to keep!" I snorted at her comment.

"She's my sister! And Jake..."

Cue Jacob going in, Bella reminding about the treaty, then Jacob not giving a damn and arguing with weird girl. Next, Alice leaves to let Bella and Jacob talk and expects me to do the same. Yeah, right.

Bella and Jacob argue.

Insert sexual tension here.

Phone rings and Jacob picks up:

"No, he's not here. He's arranging a funeral." Jacob answers before slamming the phone and muttering, "Always in the way."

"Who was that, Jacob? Was it Edward? Why didn't you let me speak to him?" The tone in her voice told me all I needed to know. Bella loved Edward more. Bella would always choose Edward over my poor best friend.

"He didn't ask for you." Jacob replied. He knew it too.

Before Bella could react, Alice burst in. "Bella. Edward's going to the Volturi. Rosalie told him. He wants die."

Jacob growled and rolled his eyes. "We have to go stop him." Bella decided. Alice agreed and they both rushed out the door. Jacob and I chased after.

"Bella! Please. Please don't leave." Jacob begged. I felt my tears water for my friend but I knew Bella wouldn't do it.

"Unlock the doors. I'm going with you." I demanded in a no nonsense to e.

"No." Paul said sternly from behind me. I turned around giving him a look, daring him to try and stop me.

"Paul's right, Gabz. You can't go. This is my mess to fix." Bella's eyes softened when she looked at me.

"Unlock the door or I'll rip the whole thing off." I heard the door locks click open.

"Gabby." I didn't look back at Paul's warning. I was going to do this. Paul was my imprint but Bella was my sister. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't protect her. I opened the door and got in but Paul held the door open.

"I'm going." He said but I couldn't let him. This was dangerous.

"Everyone just get in. We're wasting time. You can fight over this on the way to Italy." Alice said, the urgency in her voice obvious. I felt some sympathy for her. Edward was her brother. I'd do the same for Bella. Hell, I was going to the vampire royalty for the man Bella loved even after she'd broken Jacob's heart. "Bella, leave a note for Charlie." Bella did so. Paul and Jacob both got into the car.

"Why can't you just go?" Jacob asked in a bitter tone.

"Edward wouldn't believe me. He needs to see Bella." She explained. "Ugh. You smell. I'll keep the windows open."

We left as soon as Bella got in. Alice was very familiar with the airport and the people there so she was able to get us seats on the next flight to Italy. Bella and Alice sat in the row across from Jacob, Paul, and I. The four of us getting headaches from each other's stench. It was a long flight, we couldn't talk while in the plane because of those seated around us. So, it was until we were crammed into a fancy but tiny Italian sports car.

"Gabby. You can't go. The Volturi are the strongest vampires alive. There isn't enough of us. They'll kill us all." Paul tried to reason with me but I was set on going with my sister.

" _You_ don't have to." I snapped.

"You know I do if you do." He argued, sounding just as angry as I did. I crossed my arms, trying to figure out a way that only I would go with Bella and Alice. I didn't want something to happen to Paul or Jacob.

"Just Bella will go. Edward will read our thoughts and panic. He can't read Bella's thoughts." Alice interrupted my thoughts. "I've already seen it." I wondered if that excuse always worked for her. "If it goes as planned, we won't need to see the Volturi at all." The freak was good. She knew just what to say to get her way.

"How far can he read from? I will not let my _sister_ out of my sight." I emphasized the word sister, letting Alice know that I felt for Bella what she felt for Edward. Oh, the subtle-ness of female communication. Paul and Jacob continuously glared at Alice, glancing at me when I spoke but they didn't seem to quite get the meaning behind our words. Bella was too distracted and staring at the road with a blank expression.

"About a hundred feet. We both won't be letting her out of our sight. I consider Bella my sister. I already know she will be for a very long time." What was she insinuating? A very long time? So, Bella would live... a long time. I hoped she meant into old age but I had a feeling this was just wishful thinking. My eyes widened and she nodded.

"No. She can't." Bella couldn't become a vampire. We'd be on opposite sides of the battlefield.

"We're here." Alice announced as we pulled into a crowded walled city. There were hundreds of people dressed in red hooded capes. I could already smell the sickening bleach smell getting stronger. There were a lot of vampires somewhere very near and it made me sick to my stomach. "Bella, go. He'll be near the clock tower." Bella quickly lept out of the car and started sprinting. I tried to go after her but Alice locked the doors. "Not yet. One hundred feet." I fell back into the seat with a frustrated sigh. The wait felt like forever but finally Alice said, "Okay. Let's go."

It went against every self-preserving instinct I had to follow Alice. Paul and Jacob followed closely behind. When Bella finally found Edward, she jumped through a fountain to reach him quicker. He had just stepped into the light but she used her body to hide his. He smiled pleasantly when she did but later realized something was wrong when she pushed him inside. I pushed past Alice and sprinted as soon as I saw Edward realized Bella was alive.

I arrived just in time. There were two leeches calling Edward.

"The human comes too."

"No. Go to hell." Edward answered.

"What's taking so long?" A female leech emerged from the hallway. I noticed they all had bright red eyes. "What is that smell?" She had already sensed me but I didn't care. They were delusional if they thought I'd let Bella go without me.

"Aro is waiting. Come. All of you." She ordered. I looked around seeing if we could manage to get away but more vampires were appearing to see what was taking so long. We seemed to be outnumbered. Edward looked at me and shook his head as if to tell me my plans were useless. He did the same to the others. With a few more nudges, the six of us were led through the endless hall.

We were led through an elevator, as we went down the dread began to fill me. This was really dangerous. The chances we would make it out alive were slim to none. I winced. Poor Charlie. Losing Bella and I would destroy him...

We entered a large renaissance-esque room with high walls and ceilings made of white marble. There were red eyed vampires all around the room. They were dressed regally and three of them sat in black throne-like chairs. The one in the middle had a pointed face and long brown hair. He stood up and made his way towards Edward.

"May I?" He asked, holding out his hands. Edward reluctantly put his hand on the other vampires. The other vampire smiled and said something in Italian.

"Aro can read every thought you've ever had, by holding your hand." Edward explained to us.

"You're quite the soul reader yourself, aren't you Edward? To be able to hear thoughts without touching..." he wondered out loud, "But Isabella here is immune. I wonder... if she is immune to all our gifts?" He held out his hand to Bella and despite Edward shaking his head, Bella took Aro's hand. He said something else in Italian then called the female vampire who'd come to get us. Jane, he called her.

"Pain." The girl said, her eyes glowing. Edward jumped in front of Bella and he fell as if in pain. So, the girl could cause pain just by looking. I wondered if that was all she could do.

"Enough!" Bella screamed. "Do it to me." She closed her eyes and waited. The girl did the same but Bella did not react at all. Aro clapped.

"It's a shame you don't have plans to change her. I'd love to know what power she might have as an immortal..." he took Bella's face in his hand, inhaling as if she smelled good and I growled. "Isabella." He drew out her name, "What is this? You have some interesting friends."

The leech sitting in the chair to the right of Aro's stood up. "Their stench... are these children of the moon?"

"No." I nearly jumped when Paul answered. "We are not. We shift only when there is a threat in our land. We do not protect outside of our land. The children of the moon become werewolves at the full moon and lose control. We maintain our human minds."

"I see. Come." Aro beckoned. I lunged when Paul stepped forward but found myself being held by two vampires. Paul gave Aro his hand and let him read his thoughts, quickly withdrawing it when Aro was done. "He tells the truth, Caius. You, Quileute shifters may be of help to us."

"How do you feel about the children of the moon?" the one called Caius asked Paul, not satisfied with Aro's conclusion. This one was more ruthless than Aro, it seemed.

"If they come to our land, we will kill them." Caius seemed pleased with Paul's answer as was Aro.

Aro continued, "Unlike the children of the moon, we are civilized," I doubted they were, "intellectual beings. They on the other hand, are an abomination and should be exterminated. Now, this one," he came closer to me, noting Paul's response to this and motioning for the Jane girl and her brother to hold him, "You look like her but you smell like them. Why?"

"She's my half-sister." He smiled and held my face.

"Gabriella Swan... of the Quileute tribe. I cannot read your thoughts... but unlike Bella, I see images."

As for you, you are of no help to us." He stepped towards Bella, a gluttonous look in his eyes but Edward charged and knocked him over. I struggled to break free but the vampires' grips were too tight. Edward had started a brawl with a hefty vampire. Aro, it seemed, did not fight his own battles.

Jacob and Paul were also being held. Jacob struggled to get to Bella and Paul to get to me. Edward was finally pinned down, and held by two vampires who were given a command from Aro to kill Edward. Just as they were about to rip his head off, Bella screamed.

"No! Take me! Kill me instead!" She begged Aro.

"Bella, no!" Jacob and I screamed.

"You would give up your life for someone like us? A soulless monster?" Aro was intrigued by Bella once again.

"You don't know a thing about his soul." She spat.

"Fascinating. A human who care for our kind... enough to give her own life. Oh, such a shame it is that you have no plan to turn her." He told Edward. "Kill them both." He ordered. Jacob and I thrashed madly.

"Wait!" Alice yelled, stopping us all. "Bella will be one of is." Jacob growled, "I've seen it." Aro motioned for the guards to let Alice go and reached for her hand.

"Ah, to see what you have seen before it has already happened... Well, then. Isabella. I look forward to seeing what immortality does to you." He inhaled deeply near her neck again as if to savor her smell.

"We will follow through to see that this happens." The older vampire seated at the left throne added.

The blonde also spoke to them but hadn't stopped staring at Paul. "Yes. Don't take it lightly. We don't offer second chances."

And just like that, we were free to go. As we walked out, a woman who was human, led a large group of people towards the Volturi. I stopped and growled when I saw there were children included. Paul also flinched but tugged my arm after a few moments.

"Come. This is not our land." He commanded in his beta tone. I narrowed my eyes but I could not disobey unless the alpha said otherwise. My feet reluctantly followed despite my struggle. Paul knowing me too well added, "And don't argue. Silence." I shot him a death glare but he ignored me.

It wasn't until we were in squished into the small car that he told me I could speak.

"How could you?" I cried.

"What would you do? Run in there and be killed with them? We were outnumbered and not on our land. We don't know if the tribe's magic will even work here." Paul was right but it didn't stop me from sobbing.

The greatest of all evils had to be to harm children in any way. Paul tried to embrace me but I gave him the cold shoulder and stayed as far as I could from him as the small space allowed.

We checked into a hotel for one night where we were able to call our dad, who informed us we were grounded for life when we got home. We were in Rome, which was the safest city from the Volturi that we could find in Italy. Paul, Jacob, and I shared a room that connected to the other three's, just in case.

"What? Are you upset that those innocent people got murdered by those sick fuck leeches?" Paul asked when I glared at him again, "Don't you think I'm disgusted? What the hell did you want us to do?"

"I don't know!" I cried, confused at what I was feeling. He picked me up and held me, running his hand through my hair but it didn't soothe me as it normally would. I continued to shake.

"Baby. We can't change it. The best we can do is make sure leeches stay off our land." He held me close and I could feel he was also shaken by what we'd seen. He'd been so levelheaded and brave through it all, I felt bad for taking everything out on him. I felt his chest shake and him inhale. He was crying too. "Please, baby. Don't ever put me in a situation where I have to use my beta command on you. What if I had lost you today?" He lifted my chin to kiss me, needing my strength. We couldn't change the past but we'd help each other cope somehow.

We left on the first flight available that morning. Normally, I would've been excited to travel and see Rome but after yesterday's events, I couldn't stomach it. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to smile or enjoy anything for a very long time.

I was going to lose my sister.

My dad was going to lose her.

We couldn't risk the Volturi coming and starting a war with us.

Jacob was pissed. He couldn't accept that Bella would become a vampire. He went to Sam with the news, and they agreed the treaty would be broken if Bella was changed. Sam understood it had to happen, unlike Jacob, but he wanted the Cullens far away from our land and to never come back. Paul agreed with him but I was on the fence. I wasn't sure what was more dangerous for Charlie; the risk of vampires in the area again or losing Bella forever. It was only a _chance_ of vampires coming back if the Cullens were allowed to stay. A very high chance but still not completely certain. But losing Bella, was certain to destroy him. He'd never be the same again. He would blame himself... and forever question if Bella would have been okay if he hadn't let her come to Forks...

When we got home, Charlie was pissed. We were grounded for life, as he'd promised. Edward was not allowed over. He was more lenient with Paul, allowing him to come once a week, as he appreciated that he'd flown with us to make sure Bella was safe. That was the story Bella told to try and get me out of trouble but he was upset that I hadn't just called him instead.

Other than this, everything returned to normal. We went back to school, where Charlie could not stop Bella from seeing Edward, much to his disappointment. The Cullens had taken to sitting with Bella's friends and I was back with my group. Paul did not transfer back to Forks out of respect for my wishes that we have some time apart. Still, Chris usually stayed out of my way, not that I cared. Boys and dating seemed like such an insignificant issue after all we'd been through in the past few months.

* * *

Jacob didn't text me or Bella back after Italy, which worried me but Sam had ordered me to stay home. but when Bella got home from work one day, he showed up. From my window, I saw Bella and Edward heading to the edge of the woods to go meet him. I ran downstairs, knowing this would probably not go well.

"How could you, Jake?" Bella asked, betrayed. I gave Jacob a questioning look but he refused to look at me.

"He thought I was stopping you from seeing him. He brought the bikes to Charlie in hopes you'd be grounded." Edward explained.

"Stay out of my head." Jacob barked, beginning to shake. I hurried to his side, rubbing his arm to calm him.

"I was already grounded! You'd know if you'd return my calls!" Bella accused. By the shocked expression on Edward's face, I figured he hadn't known Bella had been trying to contact Jacob; and Edward was jealous. Jacob got less tense, probably feeling bad. Edward took a moment to collect himself.

"He came to speak with me." He informed us, surprising both Bella and I. "I also have something to say to you: Thank you for keeping Bella safe when I did not. If there is anything I can do to repay you..." Jacob raised an eyebrow, surprised Edward had to ask at all, "I will not leave Bella until she orders me to do so. Don't—"

"What? You don't want Bella to know? I came here to remind you of the treaty."

"I haven't forgotten. Bella is aware." Edward cut him off quickly, "Bella made her choice. She had us vote. I voted no." This was news to me. When had she asked the Cullens to vote? Why hadn't she asked how I felt? "Perhaps you can convince her to reconsider."

"Bella. You can't." Jacob pleaded, "What about Gabz and I? We'll be your natural enemies."

"Jake. I have to. The Volturi." She explained, "As for the treaty, I don't understand why. It's my choice to become one. It's none of your business!"

Jacob shook and despite my efforts to calm him, he phased and ran off. I didn't bother to chase him.

"Bella, it is your choice but you don't even bother to ask the rest of us how we feel about it all. If you'd asked, you would know I'd vote yes. Not only because we have to keep the Volturi away and dad safe but because you are my sister and I love you. I want you to be happy despite it means I'll be losing you." Bella didn't know what to say so she said nothing. After a few minutes of her stand in front of me, letting tears fall, I caved and felt bad for guilt-tripping her and changed the topic "So," I started and she quickly looked up, wincing as if she expected me to hurt her again, "Dad knows about the motorcycles?" I smiled.

"Yes. I do." Charlie was walking over and I panicked, wondering if he'd seen Jacob or overheard me. I looked at Edward, knowing he could read Charlie's thoughts. Edward gave me a slight shake of the head to tell me he didn't. "Edward. If you'll excuse us, I'd like to speak with my daughters."

"Yes, sir." Edward answered politely. Dad watched as he drove off, unaware that Edward would just come back by foot later.

"Bells. Gabz." He put his arm around each of our shoulders as he said our names, "I want to apologize for getting so upset at you two. You're right. You are adults and can make your own decisions." He began as we walked towards the house, "You can see whoever you like but I'm pleading you, as a father, please see some of your other friends as well. You can't make one person the center of your universe or it will break you if they leave. Bells, I know how it feels to be left. I was just like you when your mother left... so learn from my mistakes and yours. It can't just be all about Edward. I can't bear to watch either of you go through what you did..." he sniffled, holding back tears but he didn't let them out. "Now, Billy tells me Jake is going through a rough time. Gabriella, he is your best friend. You've been friends since the day you were born. And Bella, I remember when you were in that tough time and Jake was there for you."

Bella and Charlie weren't great with emotions and both stood awkwardly. I closed the gap and bear hugged them both, being careful not to crush them with my new wolfy strength. All three of us wiped away tears that had fallen then went on to our usual activities. Well, what we used to do before everything happened. I made dinner, which we ate together in front the TV. I cracked jokes causing both of them to roll their eyes but laugh anyway. Before Bella closed her bedroom door, she whispered an apology to me. I waved it off with a smile and closed my door. I crashed onto my bed, tired from all the emotions I'd had in one afternoon.

* * *

 **So, what do you think?**

 **I really thought I'd include Gabz more in Bella's recovery but I felt so much would change if Gabz intervened too much. Bella had to be isolated and go crazy and I knew Gabz would need time to gain self-control.**

 **This chapter was a little more serious, especially after Paul's betrayal and Gabz finding out; but I feel like it's her maturing. Her thoughts are a little calmer as well. I like to think because I'm writing it like four years later and I've matured myself but I'm not so sure.**

 **I kept it this way intentionally though. I feel like the whole imprinting thing and phasing calms her nerves and anxiety.**

 **She did forgive Paul a little too easily, but I feel like the imprint has that effect on them. I also wanted him there for the Volturi because it's important to the storyline. Anyways, Gabz hasn't fully recovered from the pain. She wants a purely physical relationship now. In her mind, she's keeping Paul happy but still guarding her heart by not getting her expectation too high.**

 **Eclipse begins in the next chapter! I'm pretty excited. I think it's my favorite movie.**


	9. Chapter 8

**So, I'm pretty excited for Eclipse. I'm mostly going by the movie because I don't have a copy of the book.**

 **This story isn't really AU, but FeralG3 gave me a great idea for a story that I'll be incorporating into this book. So, another plot, that wasn't really explored in canon in addition to the newborn army/Volturi. It begins next chapter though.'**

 **If anyone has ideas for me you can PM me, and I can try to incorporate them. If you see any of my dumb mistakes, you can let me know too. I don't bite... unless you want me too ;O**

 **As for imprints for each wolf, I do have a few changes in mind as well (:**

* * *

Jacob wasn't replying to Bella or I. After our little family talk, Bella began reading notes her and Jacob used to pass through Billy and Charlie, because you know, they couldn't send texts like normal people would. I had to watch my dad and Jacob's dad gossip like little old ladies over the notes.

But that time had ended when Bella decided to become a vampire.

as Charlie had asked, Bella wanted to use her new-found freedom to go see Jacob.

Leah and I were watching over the house that night, because Paul and I weren't speaking.

"So, how are you?" I asked nonchalantly. Leah couldn't stand when people gave her concerned or pitiful looks.

"Fine, I guess." she sighed, "They're having a girl... As much as I hate Sam, I can't say I'd wish what he did to me onto his daughter. I'm really hoping it won't, actually."

"I guess she'll have her ol' Aunt Gabz and Aunt Leah to protect her then." I smiled slyly at Leah. She cared for the little one. I had a feeling she still cared for both Emily and Samuel. They really had no control. Although I couldn't blame Leah for the way she felt; I couldn't imagine if I was in her situation with Paul and he'd imprinted on someone I was close to. Well, we hadn't been together before he imprinted on me but I like to imagine we would've ended up dating somehow without it. What if we did date and he imprinted on Bella?

Ugh. That was a nasty thought.

Luckily, Leah was able to distract my wild imagination before it got too far, "Sometimes I wish I'd just imprint already so I could forget these feelings." she admitted sadly. I resisted giving her the pity look. She was looking up at the sky as if looking for a shooting star and to my surprise, one flashed through the starry sky.

My eyes grew wide, "Did you see that?". Leah nodded, a smile playing at her lips. We walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence. I hoped it would come true for her.

When we'd gotten to the house, we sat at the edge of the forest, watching Bella read old notes from Jacob and Edward taking apart her car engine. He was so into his work that he'd hardly noticed us. Well, if he had, he didn't bother to tell us off.

I'd made sure to sneak into the kitchen for some popcorn, and now we sat on the grass watching and gobbling the two bags of popcorn.

"Oh, look. Here comes Bella." I said, mouth full of delicious butteriness. Bella was marching out of the house with a confident smile on her face. Edward sat on the roof, watching.

Bella tried turning the key in her truck's ignition but it wouldn't fully start. I'd have to ask Edward to teach me his trick. He swooped down from the roof and landed on the truck. He made sure to wink at me to let me know he was aware of our presence, just before he hopped inside the truck. Leah scoffed and rolled her eyes, stuffing a handful of popcorn into her mouth and grumbling. She didn't like the vampires, Bella, or well, anyone. She tolerated me because I was the only other female in the pack.

So, Edward wouldn't let Bella go onto the rez. He didn't want her hanging out where he couldn't protect her or so he claimed. To the rest of us, we could sense he was obviously jealous. Gee, and who would have guessed calm and collected Edward would be petty enough to break her truck to stop her from going.

I'd have to tell Jacob, he'd be so proud to know he could rile him up like this.

Bella threw a fit and marched back into the house. She locked her window angrily to let Edward know she didn't want him in.

"Do you think she'll let him back in?" Leah asked.

"Yeah. She's just being theatrical as usual." I chuckled. Moments afterward, she did as I'd predicted and opened her window again.

"Ugh. Idiots." Leah rolled her eyes. "Are you this way with Paul?"

"Oh, goodness, I hope not. You have permission to punch me in throat if I ever am."

* * *

"So, how's Paul?" Nikki asked, not bothering to hide her distaste.

"Fine, I think." I shrugged, not missing the way Chris was peering at us from a few seats away. Ever since I'd come back without Paul, he'd started sitting closer and closer. He wasn't daring enough to take his old spot though. Sometimes I did wonder if he'd cleaned his act up. I hoped he would find someone else.

"Are you two still together?" Cameron asked. The rest of the lunch table seemed to get quiet. I only shrugged. "Girl, it kills us to see you like this. We need to party again." I wished I could feel more excitement but the idea of drinking and dancing just did not appeal to me.

"I don't know if I'd be up to it." I answered honestly.

"But it's your birthday next week!" Cameron complained.

"What about the Cullens party coming up? That Alice girl is throwing it." Nikki suggested. That caught my attention. Jasper almost killed Bella the last time the Cullens tried to have a party.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Look, here." She pushed forward a purple paper that had details of said party printed on it. It was a graduation party happening in a month.

"How _fun_." I forced a smile but they didn't buy it. "Excuse me."

What. The. Hell. Was she thinking?! I took the paper and stood up, making my way over to my sister's table.

"What is this?" I slammed the paper onto the table between Edward and Bella but flicked my glare over to Alice. She raised an eyebrow and stared back.

"Whoa, ladies. Calm down." Mike tried to ease the tension. To my surprise, I felt a calming sensation rush over me and my attention snapped to Jasper, the mood controlling vampire. I narrowed my eyes at him, letting him know I knew what he was doing.

"Easy. Alice has _every_ detail planned out." He said, subtlety telling me they'd hunt just before the party. "Besides, we only graduate high school once." He'd meant it as an inside joke and luckily the others didn't catch on, excitedly chattering away about the party while the vampire continued with their inside comments.

"Another party, Alice?" It seemed this was news to Edward and Bella.

"It'll be fun." Alice clapped.

"That's what you said last time." Bella added. Alice was suddenly solemn, Edward's eyes widened as he stared at her. My sister and I both looked between them, then at each other. Alice had a vision. I had a feeling it had to do with the recent Seattle attacks. Bella didn't know. Edward and I agreed on that much but he did not want us wolves to get involved in the vampire problems. The pack already wanted them gone, he didn't want to make matters worse.

"Fine. _We_ will be there." I interrupted to distract Bella. "Don't worry, Bells. I'll tell Jacob." I informed her, Edward's eyes narrowing at me. He wasn't fond of Jacob at the moment but it was the only way to divert my sister's attention from Alice's vision. Bella had been trying to contact him but Jacob was still angry with her. He hadn't been replying to me much either, and had been going on patrols alone to shut us all off. I quickly got out my phone to text him about the party, and now that Bella was thoroughly distracted by her own thoughts I looked at Edward, thinking about Alice's vision. I knew he'd seen it by reading her mind and I wanted to know.

* * *

When the bell rang, students began to go to their classes but I stayed behind. I follow Edward from a distance, and watch as he walks Bella to her class. Once she is in, he makes his way straight back to me.

"I told you. Don't get into this." he said once we were far from anyone who might be listening. With both of our enhanced hearing, we could speak in very low voices as we pretended to pick drinks from the soda machines.

"Edward, don't be stupid. If this puts my sister in danger, it will be all your fault. Again." It was a low blow but desperate situations call for desperate measures they say.

"I know you're trying to guilt trip me. But you are right." the pessimist sighed. I couldn't help but grin at my winning and he shoved me playfully. "Don't look so smug. I'm only telling you because Bella's safety is more important. Alice saw Victoria. She'll be here this Saturday on our land."

"I'll let Sam know but stay off our land. The others still disagree with our family being here again. Especially Paul." I sighed. Paul and I were still at a disagreement over some things. "He's been with Jacob a lot. He doesn't think Bella should go through with it. They think we can hide her and your family can deal with the Volturi."

"I don't disagree but... the last time I left."

"I know. I was there." I said, more harshly than I'd intended. His face fell and I tried to amend my reaction, "Just get Bella far away. Take her to Renee. Tell her it'll be her last time to see her before we graduate." I advised, "She won't be able to resist that."

"You could go with her." he offered but I shook my head.

"Renee can't stand seeing me. I'll be at home, watching over Charlie." Edward nodded in agreement with my plan, "Oh. Bella can't know about Victoria. She might do something stupid. As usual." We both smiled halfheartedly at my joke and parted ways.

* * *

Jacob _still_ hadn't replied to my text. I went outside and opened up my phone to call Sam.

"Gabriella." Sam answered after half of one ring.

"Samuel." I said with less humor than normal, "The freaky one saw something. Edward's taking Bella to the station, come pick me up after school and we'll talk."

"See you then." he answered and I hung up. I went back to class but found it impossible to focus.

* * *

"Hey, little one." Sam got up from leaning on his car and gave me a big hug, "Haven't seen you in so long."

"Yeah, well it was your decision to take me off patrols." I rolled my eyes, noticing several people watching. Many females seemed curious as to who my big beefy friend was. Being the gentleman, he was, he opened the car door for me before getting in.

"Charlie and Bella need to be watched at all times. Your job is the most important." he said seriously, "Now tell me, what is going on?"

"Alice saw the red-head leech come here to Forks. This Saturday. I told them to stay off our land and that I'd warn you." Sam only nodded, so I continued, "Bella doesn't know. Edward is taking her to visit her mom in Florida."

"Is he going to do it?" He meant turning Bella into a vampire. The thought made me sick to my stomach. We'd agreed on after graduation and their marriage but Bella was being impatient.

"I'm not sure. He's not supposed to yet."

"We will be patrolling on our side of the land. If the Cullens aren't going to involve us in their investigation on the Seattle murders, they must stay off our side." I nodded in understanding. "You," he said is his alpha tone, "will not patrol with us while Victoria is still here." I groaned. "Watch Charlie."

"Fine." I said, slamming the door in frustration when we arrived at the police station.

"Laters, midget. Am I going to let Paul come check on you tonight?" he asked. Samuel always respected my wishes when it came to whether or not I wanted to see Paul or not. I knew he would try and make me go with Bella and Edward so I didn't want to. Hell, he'd probably do the beta order again on me and force me to go. He hadn't done it again since Italy but I had a feeling he would in this particular situation.

"No. Not until after the leech is gone." I said in a low tone, eyeing Bella next to Edward to make sure she didn't hear. Sam looked unsure but nodded and drove away, not forgetting to give. I appreciated that he respected my decision despite the fact he disagreed. He had the power as alpha to order me to do anything.

Now, to deal with Charlie. When I arrived, he was just coming out of a meeting with a middle-aged couple and Edward was saying goodbye. Charlie seemed relieved to know just us three

"Oh. Bella." he pretended to remember before getting into his car. "My parents wanted me to remind you the airline tickets you got for your birthday are about to expire."

"What airline ticket?" Charlie asked, not sounding happy.

"A round-trip ticket to Florida to see mom." Bella answered nervously, giving Edward an angry look.

"Well, that was generous." Charlie said in the same tone.

"It expires soon so you might want to use it this weekend."

"I can't just drop everything and go." Bella argued.

"It might be your last chance to see her before you graduate."

"Might not be a bad idea." Charlie seemed excited, "Get out of town for a couple days. Get some _distance_." Ah, any time away from Edward was a good thing it seemed. Bella caught on to this as well.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing mom." Bella agreed, "As long as _you_ use the companion ticket." she said to Edward.

"What? There's two tickets." Charlie looked from Bella to Edward, both nodding eagerly. "Super!" Charlie added in a small cartoon-like voice that made me giggle. "Makes me really happy." he added, now sarcastic. What can I say, I'd definitely gotten it from him. "Hey," he looked at me with a hopeful expression, "Why don't you just take your sister? She's never been to Florida. Or anywhere outside the Fork-La Push area for that matter." I narrowed my eyes. There was no need to insult me when dragging me into their mess.

"Dad. No. Renee." Those three words were enough to make Charlie understand. He was aware of why Renee couldn't stand to look at me. I saw a guilty expression start to form on his face so I intervened. With food. "Hey, I thought we were going to dinner. C'mon dad before I call CPS on you for starving me."

"You're going to be 18 in a few days. And stop being so dramatic." Charlie said resting an arm around my shoulders.

* * *

Everything went as planned. Bella went to Florida with Edward and I stayed home with Charlie, even convincing him to not go on patrol that day. I told him I missed Bella and needed my dad. It wasn't a complete lie. With everything going on it was nice to sit on the couch and watch movies with my dad all weekend. When my dad had fallen asleep on the couch, I draped a blanket on him. I couldn't sleep that night. It wasn't until just before 4am that I heard tapping on my window. I ran up my stairs, already knowing it was Paul. I was relieved, it meant that she was gone. I'd hoped he'd brought me her head on a silver platter but instead saw just Paul covered in bloody scratches.

I quickly opened the window to let him in, "What the hell happened? Did that bitch touch you? I'll kill her."

"No." was his short response. I crossed my arms and watched as he sat on my bed.

"Well? Are you going to tell me what happened?" I said, putting my hands on to my hips.

"I don't know if I feel like it. You told Sam not to let me come over until she was gone."

"You would make me leave Forks with Bella." he didn't disagree, "I wasn't going to leave Charlie."

"She was trying to get here the entire time." He growled, and stood up to sweep me in his arms and kiss me. "What if she had gotten to you? "He rested his forehead on mine, breathing deeply to calm himself. I looked at his wounds up close. They were deep and sharp, definitely the work of a vampire.

"Where's the head then? Did you get to rip it off?" I asked, a little too excited.

"She got away." he said in a frustrated tone, "It was the other Cullen."

"Wait, what?"

He sighed, "He jumped to get Victoria on our land. I was pissed because you were here and in danger. It's all their fault. So, we fought."

"And Sam just let it happen?" Paul shrugged. "Baby, let me clean you up. Those cuts won't heal properly." They were all open, and he had several bruises. "I think you could rock the sexy scar look... but I'd feel bad."

He finally cracked and gave me a grin. "Your birthday is on Monday." I wiggled my eyebrows as I wiped his cuts clean then put ointment on them. I'd temporarily forgotten but it was my birthday. We always celebrated on the reservation. The entire tribe came for story-telling and dancing.

"Finally, 18."

"Yeah. Jail bait no more." I joked. He didn't appreciate that one. He was only a few months older than me. His birthday had been just before Bella's when Edward had left her. I'd gotten him handcuffs as a joke since I was technically a minor and him an adult at the time.

Yeah, he really didn't think that one was funny.

* * *

 **Paul's birthday flashback**

"Get down here!" Paul yelled from the bottom of the large waterfall. He sat in a small wooden canoe we'd borrowed to ride down the river. Sam, Emily, Jared, and Embry were with him, cheering me on.

"I can't do it! It's too high!" I screamed, hardly daring to peer over the edge. It was at least 30 feet up.

"Get your ass in the water!" Paul yelled.

"Yeah, or we'll leave you here!" Jared threatened.

I took in deep breaths. I was absolutely terrified of heights, but I was also afraid of being left behind in the middle of the forest. It seemed so far that we had to be out of La Push territory already.

I shook myself and did some jumps, "Okay! I'll do it!" I backed up a little then gave myself a running start and jumped into a dive. I opened my eyes mid leap, feeling the wind beneath my arms.

"Eeeeeeeeaglllllleeeeeeee!" I yelled on the way down before I dove face first into the water. When I emerged from the water, the group was cheering. I was amazed that I could even float. Paul had been teaching me to swim, starting with him holding me as I floated like a toddler learning to swim.

Paul was giving me a smirk that annoyed me. He looked too comfortable on the canoe. I felt like he needed to get back in the water with me.

"Gabby? Why are you smiling like that?" He asked suspiciously as I doggy paddled towards him.

"Just getting in." I said pleasantly while motioning to get on. I used my weight at the same time to pull the boat down until it quickly tipped over, sending Paul plunging into the water. Our friends burst into laughter with me.

"Aren't we way too old to be doing this type of shit?" Paul asked when he'd emerged from the water and had regained composure.

I shot a stream of water from my mouth into his face in response to his question. He stayed there for a moment without opening his eyes, taking a deep frustrated sigh. This only made us all laugh harder. Except for Paul, of course. He muttered something to himself as he flipped our canoe back over and helped me in before getting himself in.

* * *

Of course, Edward and Jacob would be arguing first thing in the morning on my birthday.

And here I was, hoping for confetti cannons, a marching band, and a hot air balloon. But nope. Nothing. Nada. Just a good ol' fashioned Jacob-Edward show down.

Lucky me. (Insert heavy sarcasm here)

Edward tried to get Bella to stay in the car with me but of course she wouldn't once she spotted Jacob. Edward sighed.

"Hey." Bella said chipperly.

I tried to outshine her. What can I say? I'm a competitive soul. "Jacob! Are you here for my birthday?" I accused him playfully like I would with a five-year-old.

He ignored me, his eyes not leaving Bella to even blink in my direction. "Charlie said you left town."

"Hey, happy birthday Gabz!" I said to myself, "Oh gee, Gabz, how kind of you to remember!"

Bella kept talking despite me sliding in front of her and blocking her with my arms. "Yeah. To visit my mom. Why?"

"He's checking to see if you're still human." Edward announced smugly. Jacob finally looked at someone other than Bella, to give a special glare he reserved just for Edward.

How _sweet_.

"I'm here to warn you. If your kind come on our land again..." Jacob trailed off, finally paying some attention to me after I'd been humming the birthday song on repeat for a minute and a half. "Really, Gabz?" He asked in a matching 'you can't be serious' facial expression.

"Just trying to diffuse the tension." I shrugged feigning innocence.

"Wait, what?" Bella tried to redivert the conversation to what Edward and I were hiding.

Which I thought was extremely rude, seeing as I'd gone through so much trouble to divert the conversation in the first place.

"You didn't tell her?" Jacob looked at us in disbelief. He focused on me, "I expected better from you." I looked away. I really wanted to support my best friend but he was wrong.

"Just leave it alone, Jacob." Edward said, noticing my diversion techniques weren't working. It's like we were tag-teaming. If only Jacob would get with the picture and quit trying to bring down Operation: Don't Make Bella Do Something Stupid.

"Tell me what?" Bella butted in again.

"Emmett and Paul had a misunderstanding. It's nothing to worry about." Edward lied smoothly. Nice one, partner.

"Listen to you." Jacob smirked, suddenly realizing how to get Bella pissed at Edward. Gee, fourth-wheeling this love triangle of theirs was tiring. Definitely less awkward than third-wheeling. "Did you lie to get her out of town too?" Jacob asked, a little too enthusiastically. Edward rolled his eyes like I'd never seen him do before, which was saying a lot because he was always rolling his eyes at my shenanigans. I watched closely to make sure his eyes didn't get stuck in the back of his head.

"You should leave. Now." He sighed wearily.

"She has right to know! She's the one the redhead wants!" Jacob had a point. Except this was my sister. You know, two left feet, 99.9% chance of almost dying on a daily basis. Yeah, that sister. She'd probably try recreational cliff-diving when a vengeful vampire who wanted to kill her was on the loose. Oh wait, she already did that. Then ended up in the den of the most powerful, bloody thirsty vampire coven on earth.

I'd have to remind her to tick it off her bucket list.

"Victoria?" Edward groaned. Bella had caught on, "Alice's vision." She said suddenly putting two and two together and getting four, "That's what it was about."

"I was trying to protect you." As usual. I appreciated Edward not dragging my name down with his. I figured it was because it was my birthday. Finally, some recognition.

"Okay, we're going to talk about this." She said to Edward, then turned to Jacob. "You. Why haven't you returned my calls?"

Jacob shrugged. Now, it was his turn to lie. Somebody get me some popcorn!

"I had nothing to say." I snorted, not from what I'd heard. Jacob shot me a dirty look that said 'you're not helping'.

"Yeah. Well I have tons." Now that I could believe. "Hey." She said when Jacob had turned to leave.

"Bella." Edward began but Bella didn't let him finish.

"You have to trust me."

"I do. It's him I don't trust." He narrowed his eyes at Jacob.

"What about me?" I said, throwing my arms up. It was Edward's turn to give me the 'you're not helping look'.

Sorry, Edward. It was nice working with you but it was _my_ birthday and that meant Jacob and I were ditching school. We'd take Bella if it meant we got to leave sooner. We were wasting precious moments here. Every year on both Jacob and I's birthdays, we ditched school. I was sure the attendance office had already marked me off as absent before classes even began.

Edward watched as Bella got onto Jacob's bike. Jacob was reveling in his victory.

"Hey, lose the grin. We're just going for a ride." Bella told him but her tone said differently.

"Hold on tight."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Uh-uh." I interrupted their flirting, walking towards the bike, "I'll just..." I lifted a leg onto the bike between their bodies, "squeeeeeeeze on in." I eased myself between them and patted Jacob's back when I was good to go.

I made sure to make double pretend gun hand gestures and clicking noises at Edward to let him know I still had his back. He smiled appreciatively, but went back to frowning quickly, still upset over his loss in this round of Jacob-Edward showdown.

* * *

Jacob drove carefully to make sure Bella did fly off the back. They were mistaken if they thought that was going to be me.

At Emily's we were instantly greeted by the usual four idiots. They all seemed happy to see me and for Jacob. Bella seemed surprised at their warmth. She just didn't get. Even though we didn't want Jacob to get hurt, we knew he loved her so we loved her. And they knew I loved my sister, so they didn't have a choice really. We were family like that.

Paul was first to meet us, grabbing me and pulling me right off the bike and into his arms. He kissed me all over. I knew it was probably because he didn't like me being so close to Jacob but I giggled anyways and kissed him back. We got some cheers and cat calls from the boys.

"Hey! Look whose back!" Jared called out, taking a bite of his piece of chicken. I knew I'd tasted fried chicken on Paul's lip. It made my stomach rumble. Paul kissed it to make it better but it didn't work. I needed food, damnit.

Quil was first to greet Bella. "What up, Bella?"

She smiled, still unsure about their behavior, "Oh. You too, Quil?"

"Yup." he answered proudly, also eating a piece of chicken, "Finally made the pack."

"I'm glad you're here Bella. Maybe we'll get a break from Jacob's obsessive inner monologue." Embry joked.

"I wish Bella would call!" Paul mocked in a whiny voice.

"I wish Bella wouldn't call!" Jared joined him.

"Maybe I should call Bella!" Embry added.

"Maybe I should call Bella and hang up!" Quil finished it off and they all laughed harder.

I loved these idiots.

Bella laughed with them but was embarrassed.

"Yeah, okay. You can shut up now." Jacob said with wide eyes.

Leah Clearwater came out from the house, angrily stalking towards us.

"Ah, Leah. Feisty as ever." I announced. She smirked at me but went back to scowling at Bella.

"Bella, this Leah, Harry Clearwater's daughter." Jacob formally introduced them.

"Hey. I'm really sorry about your father." Bella gave Leah the pitiful look she loathed. Ooh, wrong move sister. I winced, I'd hoped Leah would go easy on Bella. Then again, Leah had a lot going on.

"If you're here to torture Jacob some more, feel free to leave." She warned before stalking off.

"Fun, isn't she?" Jacob's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Don't mind her, Bells. She takes a while to warm up to." I assured her. Though that wasn't all. The Edward-Bella-Jacob triangle was something Leah could relate to. She was Jacob in their Sam-Emily-Leah love triangle. The awkward one who didn't get chosen by their significant other. Leah was worse off, in my opinion. Emily was her cousin. Leah had phased when she found out Emily was pregnant and then caused her dad to have a heart attack. I couldn't imagine the pain of being the reason your father dies. But she was way too hard on herself, it's not like she asked to be a shapeshifter. It was all Victoria's fault. Even Seth Clearwater had shifted. He was only like 12 years old.

Emily and Sam were next to come out and greet Bella. Emily had started to show now.

"Hey! I was wondering when I'd see your pretty face around here again." She gave Bella a hug and I cleared her throat to get her to compliment my pretty face.

"Gabz. Oh, how I've missed you." She gave me a huge hug, her baby bump hitting my stomach. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart! The food is all ready, as you can see some of them have already taste-tested it for you."

"So, what's going down tonight?" Jared asked, "The usual Gabz B-day bash?".

"You know it! There's going to be dancing and a campfire! And more food, of course." Emily answered.

"What? You're going to be dancing, Emz?" Embry asked, sounding doubtful.

"You didn't think this big belly was going to stop me, did you?" She laughed.

"Hey. Take it easy." Samuel said, kissing her again and wrapping his hand over her bump.

"That could be you." Paul whispered into my ear in a low voice. My eyes widened, and I hit him playfully. "Kidding... kind of." He added.

"Oh hush." I quieted him, not wanting to talk about it in front of the guys. I got out my phone to text Cameron and Nikki, telling them to come later tonight.

This was it, I thought. Jared was finally going to imprint on Cameron and make my dreams come true. I just knew it.

After we ate, Emily brought out a cake and candles for me to blow.

"What do you wish for?" They cheered.

"For Jared to hurry up and imprint tonight!" I declared but they all became quiet looking from me too Paul. They were even more confused when Paul just smiled at me. He knew exactly what I meant.

"What do you mean, Gabz?" Jared asked cautiously.

"Uh, so we can finally get some new dirt to mess with you. Duh." I answered and everyone began chatting once more. Jared wasn't completely convinced and kept a distance from Paul to be safe.

The feast began at 5pm. Cameron had arrived with Nikki but to my dismay, Jared had gone with the others for a quick patrol. By 7pm, they weren't back yet and the dancing and other festivities began. I hadn't realized Paul was such a great dancer but then again, the last tribal event we'd interacted at was the one where he'd imprinted on me, less than a year ago. It felt like we'd been together so much longer.

Jared and the boys eventually showed up, and just as planned, Jared stopped mid-job when he saw us. His mouth gaped like a fish out of water and I knew the imprint was happening. I spun around to see Cameron's reaction to find it wasn't her behind me but Nikki who had suddenly stopped dancing. Cameron was behind her, also staring.

Wait, what? Could he imprint on both of them? Okay, a little awkward but I'd still get what I wanted I guess. Jared had started walking towards us when I noticed Embry was also headed towards us, same stupid expression on his face.

Oh piss, which guy had imprinted on which friend?

I watched in slow motion as Jared approached Nikki and Embry to Cameron.

"No! No, no, no!" I stomped my foot, interrupting their moment. The boys gave me clear 'what the fuck, Gabz?' looks. "You imprinted on the wrong one, Jared!"

"You know I can't choose." he argued.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Nikki asked. Cameron and her had their hands on their hips and confused looks on their faces.

"Come on guys. We've got some 'splainin' to do. Call your parents and tell them we're having a sleepover."

The festivities ended at around 9pm, because it was a weekday but Billy had us stay, except for Bella who Jacob took home to a furious Edward.

Nikki and Cameron both thought the whole thing was a prank. That is, until the boys phased into giant wolves, sending my friends running into the forest. They didn't take too well but it was understandable, they hadn't grown up hearing our tribe's stories. We didn't let them leave that way though. Seeing the guys phase back into human form without attacking them made it a little better but they were both pretty shaken. Billy explained the imprinting several times, emphasizing that they had a choice to turn their back on their imprints but that it would be devastating to Jared or Embry. The three of us had a sleepover that night at Billy's place. I made the guys, including Paul, all leave and stay at Emily's. I didn't want either of my friends to see Emily's scars just yet.

"So, this explains you and Paul's strong connection." Cameron began when it was just us girls. I nodded with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Gabz." Nikki apologized, "For everything."

"You didn't know. It's fine." I gave her a reassuring smile, "What's important now is how you two feel. I know it sounds crazy but it is all true. You have control in this situation but I really hope you at least give them a try."

"Well, Jared is pretty fine." Nikki grinned, "Why didn't you introduce me to him before?"

"I did! He wasn't a werewolf then so the imprint didn't happen. He wasn't so big back then. And I guess it's okay that your name won't be as awesome as Cameron Cameron, but I do see now that you guys are a better match."

"He's definitely not my type. Embry is though." Cameron wiggled her eyebrows. So far, they were taking it all pretty well.

"Yes. And you don't have to be scared of the wolves. We're here to protect you."

"Wait. We? Girl, don't tell me I'm about to turn into scooby doo."

"No... it's just me. And it's only tribe members as far as I know." I explained, and Nikki let out a breath of relief.

Cameron started to put two and two together. "So, that was the coming of age month you were gone?"

"Yeah. It's not really age specific though... it just happens and we use that excuse until we are able to control ourselves from phasing. It's difficult at first. But Jared's been a wolf much longer than me. He's never really been an angry person anyway." Like Paul, I thought but left out. Leave it to my friends to be the crazy ones who'd try and beat a temperamental werewolf's ass for me. "Embry's a sweetheart too, Cam. I'm glad it wasn't Jacob or Quil who imprinted on you two."

We spent the rest of the night talking about less serious things and doing our nails like we used to which seemed to calm their nerves. Both girls promised not to say anything to anyone, and if there was anyone I could trust to keep their word, it was them. We found a new table to sit at during lunch that day and the girls ended it with the guys they'd been talking to at school. After school, Paul, Jared, and Embry were already waiting with their motorcycles. I guess Harley Davidson's were a new wolf thing that Paul had started.

We went to get pizza together, having a good time as if we were all normal teenagers. It was nice to pretend for once but it didn't last long.

When we got to my house, Jacob was coming out of it. Edward and Bella stood outside.

"Whoever he was, he left his stink behind. It'll be hard to miss when we cross it again. We'll handle it from here." Jacob informed.

"We don't need you to handle anything. Or anyone." Edward's eyes were dark. He hadn't fed in a while.

Jacob answered with the same anger, "I could care less what you need.". They were looking at each other like they were going to kill each other so I decided it was time I intervene.

As usual.

"Whoa, guys back up. What did I miss this time?" I asked in a bored tone. Honestly, the Edward-Jacob tension was getting old.

"A leech entered." Jacob answered. Edward hadn't known my friends were imprints now, until he read everyone's thoughts. He whispered his discovery to Bella. "It wasn't Victoria." Jacob added, not wanting to hear about imprints. He was against it and hoped that he never would imprint. He was only saying that because it hadn't happened yet. I had high hopes it would still happen for him and that was why I still tolerated his silly crush on Bella.

"Ok great. Then we all work together." We all gave Bella skeptical looks, "We all have the same goals here. To catch the bad vampire." Well, that much was true.

"As if there's a difference" Jacob scoffed.

"Alright, we're done here." Edward started to pull Bella but Jacob grabbed her other arm.

"No, _you're_ done here." Jacob argued. Edward gave him an exasperated look. He was more grumpy than usual when he was hungry. I looked at Bella, telling her she needed to put an end to this.

"No. Stop! Let go." she shook off both their grasps, "I'm tired of this. From now on, I'm Switzerland here."

"Girl, I could use some popcorn right about now." Cameron nudged me.

I snickered, "Tell me about it."

Bella rolled her eyes at us, not appreciating our comments. She continued talking, "Okay, I know you guys don't like each other." That was an understatement, "But we've got bigger problems. And this is just a temporary solution." She turned to Edward, "If you'd be willing to try."

Neither of them liked it, but they agreed.

* * *

It was weird, the wolves and vampires working together for a common cause. We'd taken over half of the patrols and searches so the Cullens would be able to hunt. Jacob had started baby-sitting Bella, as I liked to joke.

Billy decided to host a story-telling night that Friday at the council meeting, not only for Nikki and Cameron but also for Bella. Billy was trying to convince her not to become a cold one _and_ we were going to fill Nikki and Cam in with the whole vampires are real issue. They'd been curious with Edward and Jacob's argument, quickly figuring out it was probably bigger than the little blood-sucking bug leeches. I told them we'd explain when it was right, and instead the wolves started patrolling their homes more carefully. We didn't know if the enemy vampires would try to take one of them. We weren't sure if they were aware of the wolves in the area or of our imprints but we weren't going to take chances.

To ease up Edward's jealousy, Paul and I did most of the patrolling around the house and Bella brought over some female friends. Well, friend. Jessica was still weirded out by Bella from the last time they'd hung out. I was happy about this, I liked Angela much better. Nikki and Cameron spent a lot of time around our house as well. I tried to keep things as normal as possible for them. Sometimes we eavesdropped on Bella on her friends at her door, making sure to have popcorn as we did. Charlie was happy with all the females around. It must have been nice with all the guys who had been hanging around his daughter.

"By the way," I whispered to Nikki and Cam as we sat at the camp fire waiting for Jacob and Bella to arrive, "Keep the PDA to a minimum when the boys get here. That's my grandpa." I pointed to the oldest council member, "The other two are Billy, who you know, and Sue Clearwater. She took over for Harry after he passed. It's his kids first time tonight as well. You know Seth and Leah." I informed them.

Paul, Jared, and Embry arrived together and we scooted over to make room for each next to their imprints. It wasn't wise to get between a wolf and their imprint. Paul gave me a kiss on the cheek as a hello and put an arm around me but that was it. He knew better than to do that with my grandfather around. The arm around me was already pushing it.

"Hey, are you going to eat that hot dog?" Paul asked Jacob, who was sitting on the ground in front of the fire, resting on Bella's legs. Jacob's hot dog was on the wire in the fire and was now burning. He'd been distracted it seemed by his thoughts because the Jacob I knew would never waste a perfectly delectable hot dog.

"I guess," Jacob said slowly, "I'm so full I feel like I'm going to puke. But I won't enjoy it all." Jacob joked, but he should know better. You just didn't do that in front of a hungry wolf with a temper. Paul growled, and I let them deal with it. "Okay, sheesh. Here you go. How many have you had?"

"I just got off patrol." Paul answered as he caught the stick and hot dog Jacob had tossed to him. Bella seemed amazed at his hand-eye coordination. It was something she couldn't relate to.

Jacob leaned over to whisper into Bella's ear. "The histories we always thought were legends," he said. "The stories of how we came to be. The first is the story of the spirit warriors."  
It was almost as if Jacob's soft whisper was the introduction. The atmosphere changed abruptly around the low-burning fire as my grandfather through something into it to produce smoke. Paul and Embry sat up straighter. Jared nudged Nikki and then pulled her gently upright.

"The Quileute have been a small people from the beginning," Billy began. "And we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood. It wasn't always the magic of shape-shifting — that came later. First, we were spirit warriors."

Bella was in awe of Billy's story-telling skills. She was looking at him with wide eyes. When he started to talk about the cold ones, he stared her in the eyes not leaving them for a moment. Not even when he told us how we killed them- by tearing them apart and throwing them into the fire. He only looked away when my grandfather began telling the story of Taha Aki's third wife. She was his imprint, his true love. My grandfather paused to smile and nod at Cameron and Nikki. As he continued he mentioned Taha Aki decided to stop phasing and finally age to grow old with his third wife. This I had never really thought much of when I'd previously heard it. So, Paul and I wouldn't age if we continued phasing. The others would have to stop to grow old with their wives. I looked at Bella, maybe I did have more time with my sister than I thought.

"The third wife, did not possess any special magical talents but she did possess one very important trait," Nikki and Cameron were on the edge of their seat as grandfather told this part of the story, "Courage. The third wife knew that Taha Aki would lose the fight so she took a knife and plunged it into her heart to distract the cold woman with her blood." His eyes now flicked over to Bella at this part. He finished the story and moved on to that of a small coven of vampires who made a pact with Ephraim Black, Jacob's great-grandfather. This tale was even more lively than the others, because my grandfather had actually been there. He had only been a boy but he said his father's pack only consisted of three wolves. Grandfather's hypotheses on this, which was why they were holding the meeting, was because more shape-shifters emerged when more vampires came near the land.

"I suspect that there is a larger amount somewhere nearby. The pack is at the largest number we've ever seen." He told us wearily. "The number is rising so quickly, I fear that this someone is intentionally creating new cold ones. This is very dangerous for they are stronger and faster when newly turned... and have much trouble controlling their lust for blood." We all gasped. A few of us eyed Bella. Would she be able to control her lust for blood? I felt Paul bring me closer and knew all the others did the same to their imprints.

The council ended the meeting on that not, warning us to be vigilant and not stray from our paths.

"Granddaughter. Let us speak." My grandfather called and I followed as he walked.

"I'll be right back!" I told the others, mostly Paul who was reluctant to let me go after what we'd just heard. I saw Jared and Embry leading their imprints towards Sam and Emily. Emily would talk to them. I knew they must be panicking with what they'd just learned. If werewolves weren't enough to scare them, finding out vampires were real would.

I sensed Paul lingering to wait for me.

"Your friends are good for the tribe. I know they will not share our secrets. I wondered when we would start seeing imprints from outside our tribe. You and Paul seem to be the final connection to all the lines. There are only few lines now that aren't connected."

"You aren't worried they will tell?" I was a little surprised. Most of the imprints in the past came either from our tribe or others so I'd been afraid the council would be less than accepting of my friends.

"Are you?" He teased.

"No. Not at all."

"I trust your judgement. And the spirits. They have never let us down before. Remember that, my granddaughter." He said, more serious now. "I wish your mother and grandmother were alive so I could see with my eyes how proud they are of us. I definitely feel it." He breathed deeply as a strong wind came past us. Odd, we hadn't had any wind earlier. "Our loved one have moved on with the spirits. Listen with your heart, young one, and you will hear them." He lef after that, going into a building where Sue and Billy had gone.

After he left, the wind stopped completely. I wondered why he'd told me all that. Obviously, he wanted me to trust in the spirits. It was easier said than done. You would think once you've turned into a giant wolf and chased vampires, you'd believe anything but all those things were physically present and seen with the eyes. It took faith to believe in something you couldn't see.

"You okay, baby?" Paul asked as he made his way over to me. He held my face tenderly and gave me the greeting he'd wanted to earlier but couldn't in front of others. It was just what I need to pull myself together.

"I am now. How are Jared and Embry? More than half of us have imprinted already."

"They're making progress." He had a knowing smile, it seemed the boys did kiss and tell. Well, it was less humiliating for me now that I wasn't the only one. "But it's not quite half. Just this morning, two more tribe members phased. Their names are Collin and Brady. They're only 13." Paul was upset by this. Rightfully so.

"Something has to be done." I felt my eyes water at the thought of such young kids phasing, "They're too young for such a big responsibility... They deserve to enjoy their youth."' As I'd discovered about myself in Italy, this was a bit of a tender spot for me. I'd had such a happy childhood, I knew that's how it should be for all kids.

"Something will be done. The Cullens are going to train us to fight these newborns leeches. They say the mood-controller has experience with them." He looked away, he was hiding something.

"When do we start?"

It was just as I expected. "You will stay here with Collin, Brady, and Seth." I narrowed my eyes into slits. "Emily could go into labor. Someone has to protect them."

"But I need to protect you too." I argued. Paul smiled and kissed me.

"They can't hurt me." He said in a cocky tone. I rolled my eyes and he seemed satisfied but he was delusional if he thought I'd given up so easily.

When we entered the building where my friends were, Emily was already speaking to them. "There is no safer place in the world from the cold ones. We will make arrangements for you to come here if there is ever an attack. We will make room for your families too and an excuse to get them here." She assured them.

Cameron nodded but Nikki still looked terrified. Jared started whispering things in her ear and making her smile. The way he looked at her seemed to make her glow.

Embry was shier than Jared but he still held Cameron close and gave me a big smile when I came in.

"Hey kid." I ruffled Embry's hair, remembering that he was a year younger. "A younger man, huh? You, cougar, you." I said to Cameron, making Embry blush. She did a small clawing motion at me behind his back.

"We should get you all home. I'm sure these two will come in through the window." It was already late and I didn't want their families to worry so we all rode home in Bella and I's truck, dropping each couple off.

Edward was waiting at our home, eyes now a bright golden. He seemed happy to know Jacob wasn't with us and had stayed behind after the meeting. He probably had patrols.

* * *

Jacob watching Bella became routine, much to Edward's dismay. He'd began to get used to it and they ignored each other instead of arguing. So, when they came home and were in each other's faces, I knew something was up.

"Daaaaaad. Shits about to go down outside between Edward and Jacob." I informed him, hoping seeing Charlie would remind Jacob not to phase right now, "And as usual, Bella, your injury prone daughter, is hurt again."

"What?" He dropped whatever he'd been doing and ran outside, not even bothering to scold me for my cussing. He put his hands on both guys' chests, pushing them away from one another.

Oh, Lord. My dad's getting in between a vampire and werewolf. This was not good. "What's going on you two?" Edward was too upset to talk, I don't think I'd ever seen him so angry. I narrowed my eyes at Jacob. What did he do this time?

"I kissed Bella." Jacob admitted, not backing down, "And she broke her hand." Charlie looked ready to explode. "Punching my face. Total misunderstanding." Jacob added before Charlie blew up. I couldn't help but snort.

"Nice one, Bells." I snickered. Jacob gave me a dark look and I stopped. Bella looked as if she wished the ground would just swallow her whole.

"Oh." Charlie answered awkwardly. He probably did not want to know about either of his daughters kissing boys. "Hey. Well, no fighting on my lawn. And you," he pointed at Jacob but he didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry." He said honestly, "For kissing her. It won't happen again. Unless she wants me to."

"Okay, well, I'll let you two talk about it. Talk, that's it. I don't want to have to take anyone in." He sighed, quickly making his way back inside the house.

"If you ever touch her without her permission again, it will be the last thing you do." Edward warned.

"Jacob. Let's go." I said, ending their death stare before it got worse. "Take me to the rez."

"Please leave." Bella's harsh words finally got Jacob to budge. He got onto his motorcycle and I climbed on behind him. Charlie waved at me from the window. He seemed to be rooting more for Jacob than Edward when it came to Bella. I understood why, Jacob had never let any harm come to in the 18 years we'd known each other. But that really wasn't fair, Bella would get herself nearly killed multiple times with or without Edward. She really didn't need him.

When I got to the rez, my sexy man was already waiting for me at Emily's. The whole pack was there and were trying to stop themselves from smiling. I had no idea what was going on but there was definitely something.

"Hey baby, can we talk?" I nodded, waiting for Paul to say whatever he needed to say, "Outside?"

What in the world was going on?

"Sooo, I was excited when you texted you were coming. I know it's last minute but my dad seems to be having a good day... at least by his standards." I smiled hoping he was about to say what I thought he was going to say. "I bought him some beer and wanted to go introduce you. Like I promised." Yes, this was exactly what I'd hoped for.

I pounced onto him and covered him in kisses. I hadn't been bugging him about his promise as often because of the vampire situation so I was definitely not expecting this. "Let's go. If you keep this up, I'm taking you into a room and we'll never leave."

He didn't have to tell me twice. I got into his truck before he did.

"I always get what I want." I said happily as he drove.

"Brat."

* * *

"Sarai is my sister's name. Dad is very protective of her so I'm not sure how all this will go down. I won't let him hurt you though." Paul seemed to be reasoning more with himself than talking to me. I squeezed his hand to comfort him. I wondered if Paul's dad had hurt him but I was afraid to ask. I might not be able to control myself when meeting him. It would explain Paul's behavior growing up. Why he bullied me, was so rebellious, and had such a temper.

Paul's house looked a lot like Emily's but that was what most houses looked like on the reservation. It seemed less taken care of than Emily's though, and as if it might have been nicer at another point in time. Paul got out of the truck first, coming around to open my door and help me out. He kissed me again, catching me by surprise.

"I feel like it's just a dream again. I missed you so much." He said kissing all over my face. He took my hand and led me to the front door. He took out a key and unlocked it. "Dad? Sara? I'm home!"

"Paul!" I heard a young girl scream before she ran downstairs. She paused when she got to the bottom, suddenly realizing I was there. She was young, only about 8 or 9 years old. She was beautiful with long eye lashes and big eyes. She didn't look very much like Paul though. She was a little darker in skin tone but had the same hazel colored eyes. "Who's this?"

"Sara. This is Gabriella Swan, my girlfriend." She smiled and waved shyly at me. Paul let go of my hand to run and pick her up. He spun her around as they hugged making her giggle.

"Are you going to play princess with me?" She asked when he put her down. I didn't realize at first that she meant me.

"Of course. I love princesses!" I did. I mean who didn't, right? Sara giggled and took my hand.

"My favorite is Jasmine. You can be Belle! Your hair already looks like her." She said, leading me into the next room which was a kitchen, dining table, and living room. Sitting at the table was a man who I figured was Paul's father. He looked exactly like him but much older. He had a gut as well as if he drank a lot of beer. He had one in his hand at the moment.

"Your girlfriend, Paul?" He didn't look at me, keeping his eyes on his beer.

"Yes, daddy! Her name is Gabriella and she's going to play princess with me!" Sarai answered for him. Their father smiled when he looked up at her.

"Of course, my angel. Who wouldn't want to play with you? Sweetheart, please go upstairs. I need to speak with your brother."

"Okay!" She said, blissfully unaware of the tension in the room. "Gabriella?"

"I'll be right up. Get my tiara ready!" I smiled nervously. She nodded and skipped happily off.

Paul's father's smile fell when he looked to his son. "Is this what I think it is?" Paul winced but he nodded slowly.

"You can't do that to this family, Paul. How do you know she won't leave you?" He stood up, slamming his can of beer onto the table, "Then what will happen? You'll come here and take it out on your sister?" Paul shook his head but didn't say anything. "I won't let you. Take her home, now." Paul didn't say anything but he moved in front of me as if to protect me. He shook his head again. "No? You ungrateful son of a bitch!" He grabbed a plate and threw it but it landed three feet to the left of us. Paul flinched but still moved in front of me to make sure I didn't get hit by the shards of glass. I gasped. Paul was right, his father didn't take the imprint issue well. But maybe if he knew I'd also imprinted on Paul. Paul was too nervous to think right now.

I cleared my throat and his father looked up at me, expression unreadable. "Sir, um, Mr. Lahote? I just wanted to say... I imprinted on Paul, too. I'm also a shape-shifter."

"Women don't phase." He accused, upset as if he thought I were lying.

"There's been a lot of leeches in the area. The Cullens came back and it attracted more vampires." I explained. Mr. Lahote nodded, taking it all in.

"If you'd just come to a meeting, dad. Billy will tell you." Paul begged, finding his voice now.

"I can't. I'm embarrassed." He shook his head and sat back down, sighing. "So, you're the reason my son hasn't been fighting back anymore. No calls from the school either... are you going to hurt my son?"

I shook my head. "Never."

"That's all I ask. Gabriella Swan, huh? Are you Charlie's daughter?"

"Yes. His second one. My mother died giving birth to me." He seemed to get what I meant, which was that I wasn't Renee's daughter Bella.

"Paul Lahote. Senior." He held out his hand.

I was ecstatic that everything was going so well, and I was unable to hold my tongue. "Is it too early to call you dad?". I laughed nervously and quickly shook his hand. To my surprise and evidently Paul's, he let out a booming laugh.

"That sure? Alright then." He sighed sitting down, "You have both been through the imprint so you might understand what being rejected does to us. It's worse than you can imagine. Like you're just empty." He shrugged. I looked behind me at Paul. His eyebrows furrowed as if confused by it all. I decided I needed them to have some much-needed father-son time.

"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I've got a princess party to attend." I curtsied dramatically, gave Paul's hand a quick squeeze and left the kitchen to go upstairs.

Upstairs were two bedrooms, with a shared bathroom in-between. Both doors were identical and I wasn't sure which room was which so I chose to try the one on the right side of the bathroom. When I entered, I saw that it was definitely a guy's room and by the smell, it was Paul's.

What can I say, curiosity killed the wolf too apparently?

I stepped inside to look around. The walls and bedsheets were all different shades of grey but all were mostly darker grey tones. There were a few sports team's flags and posters on the wall. There was a football jersey that said "LAHOTE" on the back from La Push High School. I'd forgotten that he played on the school team before switching to Forks High School. Did he miss playing at all? He probably didn't have time anymore with patrols and school.

I was surprised that the room was fairly clean, considering all the guys I knew had messy rooms. I'd only seen Jacob, Embry, Quil, and Sam's but they all looked as if hurricanes had come through them.

On his desk, there were a few pictures. He had several of me which he seemed to have taken from Jacob's or Sam's house. There was one of me in my dance uniform, one in a bathing suit, and another in a short dress. I noticed they were all of when I was already in high school and those which I had skin showing. Well, not that much skin but more than I usually let show. Oh, my possessive imprint.

There was another picture of Paul and his old group of friends. From what I'd heard, he wasn't speaking to them anymore.

There was one more of a woman who looked much like Aria. I didn't have time to wonder who it might be.

"I don't know if I can handle you in my room any longer without throwing you on the bed." Paul was leaning on his door's frame, "Did you see Sara yet?"

"No. I got distracted. Who's this?" I held up the picture of the woman.

"My mom." He moved closer, looking at the picture. "I've been thinking of going to find her. I wonder what she's doing. If she has a new family. If she cares. Everything went so well today... I was hoping you'd come with me."

My heart sank. I knew the pain of not having a mother. I loved Charlie but I'd always wished I had a mother to talk to.

"Do you know where she is?"

"I heard she moved back and was staying in Seattle. It's what my dad and I fought about the first time I phased." He shared. "With all the things going on in Seattle, I wonder if she's safe."

"Let's do it."

* * *

It was hard keeping the secret from the pack but Paul had asked me not to tell and finding his mom was personal. It wasn't my place to tell anyone.

The only person to find out was Leah Clearwater whose mother had been the one Paul's mother had contacted. Sue and his mother had been good friends.

As for Charlie and Bella, I had to lie. I avoided Edward at all costs to make sure he didn't get any glimpses into my mind. I told them we were going to be at Leah's house. Sue agreed to cover for us.

We made plans for the weekend, since it was the only weekend we'd have for the next two months where we weren't scheduled to patrol or anything. Leah got her patrols switched quickly, having something up her sleeve to guilt Sam with. I don't know what she texted but Sam agreed instantly.

"So, why is she in Seattle?" I asked Paul while we were driving there. Leah was in the back seat, with headphones in her ears.

"It's where they met. She went to college there and has some friends in the area. Her and my dad stayed in Tacoma when they had Sara and I." He explained. Sarai we'd left at home with her dad. Paul wasn't sure if she was ready to meet her mom and wanted to make sure she was serious before letting her see Sara. "I'm not exactly sure why she came back. She'd returned home to Mexico when she left dad."

The drive to Seattle was beautiful. We took the 101 and got to see more of the coast and beaches. We only stopped to eat because our time was limited. We had to be before Monday night. I hoped his mother would come back with us. Paul would be graduating Tuesday and my graduation would be on Thursday. The entire pack would be attending both, of course and Alice's party.

* * *

"Leah, the address." I nudged Leah to wake her up when we'd arrived in Seattle.

"Huh?" she wiped a bit of drool from her chin, "Oh, 3398 Newcastle Commons Drive, Newcastle, WA 98059."

"Hm, Newcastle. Sounds fancy. The map says you'll have to take the 405 freeway. It's coming up in 4 miles." I instructed. Paul's grip on the wheel had been tight since we'd seen the 'Welcome to Seattle' sign. I was constantly reminding him to loosen up or he'd snap it in half. "Steering wheel babe."

It only took about 30 more minutes to get to Newcastle. As we drove, houses became farther and farther apart with more green forest in between.

"That was 3396 over there so it's probably that one ahead." I pointed to a big apartment complex that was at the edge of the thick forest. It was a few miles from any neighbors. "It looks like new construction." We pulled into a fairly empty parking lot. I wasn't sure if it was because we'd arrived during business hours and all the tenants were at work.

"You stay here, I'll make sure it's safe." Paul instructed but I should my head in defiance.

"We'll all go together. We're safer in numbers. We'll smell danger before we see it anyway. I don't smell leeches." I opened my door to sniff again. There was something but it was unfamiliar.

"I think it smells... nice. Like pumpkin pie or something." Leah said, puzzled. "That's my favorite."

"I don't smell it. I hope there is though, I'm starving."

"You're always-"

"Shh. You said apartment 329, right?" Paul hushed Leah and I and the three of us walked up the flights of stairs to the apartment. Paul knocked on the door and my heart hammered in my chest. I held onto his free arm to control my anxiety.

After peeking through the hole, a woman emerged.

"Ai, mi hijo."


End file.
